Czech central bank governor: faster wages, weaker crown may bring earlier hike

"There is no direct connection (between faster wage growth and interest rates), but in combination with a weaker than expected crown exchange rate, some space is opening for us to raise rates sooner than we originally thought," Rusnok told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

The central bank's staff forecast puts the next rate hike at the turn of the year at the earliest. The bank has raised its main two-week repo rate, currently at 0.75 percent, in three steps since last August.