Slovak crown near records, tests cbank tolerance

...investors, and dealers said the market looked poised to 
test central bank tolerance of the unit's strength. 
    The crown was at 33.945 per euro  as of 1600 GMT, 
slightly stronger from 33.965 late on Wednesday and in sight of 
the record high of 33.800 per euro reached on March 8. 
    "London investors are showing renewed interest in emerging 
currencies," said VUB Bank dealer Laco Benedek. "It seems 
investors will continue buying crowns regardless of the risk of 
more interventions by the central bank." 
    The central bank intervened on the market to slow down the 
crown's rise when it reached its record high, and dealers said 
more action was possible if the unit extended its gains. 
    The crown has jumped by 4.4 percent in the past seven weeks, 
driven by Slovakia's record strong economic growth of 8.3 
percent in 2006, new foreign direct investment projects and 
improving foreign trade balance. 
    The Slovak currency is firming despite rising prospects of 
lower interest rates stemming from a favourable inflation trend. 
    The Statistics Office said earlier on Thursday Slovakia's 
EU-norm inflation rate fell to a record low of 2.0 percent in 
February, from 2.2 percent in January, which confirmed benign 
inflation in the country that plans to adopt the euro in 2009. 
------------------ MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1600 GMT ----------------- 
Crown/euro  33.945 vs 33.965 on Wednesday (+0.1 pct) 
Crown/dollar  at 25.629 vs 25.660 (+0.12 pct) 
5-yr govt bond  yield 4.413/4.013 vs 4.410/4.010 pct 
7-yr govt bond  yield 4.242/4.159 vs 39672/4.196 pct 
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