UPDATE 1-Current Czech data don't warrant rate hike-cbanker

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The current economic data in the Czech Republic are not sufficiently worrying to warrant a hike in interest rates this month, central bank (CNB) board member Robert Holman said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a financial conference, Holman said he did not favour a pre-emptive move on interest rates and would prefer to wait until the bank's updated CPI forecast in July before changing policy.

"The data that we have obtained so far are not troubling enough to require a rise in interest rates," he said.

Analysts are increasingly expecting the central bank to tighten policy this month after Monday's data showing the strongest-ever growth in retail sales which followed other figures signalling a build-up of inflation pressures.

Central bank Vice-Governor Ludek Niedermayer, whom markets regard as an inflation hawk, told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the CNB would make a mistake waiting for unambiguous evidence of inflation taking hold before acting.

Holman said he was open to changing his opinion on interest rates depending on the monthly analysis of data presented at the CNB board's next policy meeting on May 31, though the current data he has seen show no fundamental inflation pressures.

"I would most like to wait for the new 'large' inflation report (due in July), when we have more figures and more reliable data," Holman said.

"I am not a friend of some hot-headed or preventative interest rate increases, until we have certainty that inflation pressures are robust."

Holman, long known for his preference for stable interest rates rather than frequent changes, rarely speaks on monetary policy in public.

The CNB's main policy rate -- the two week repo rate -- has held at 2.50 percent, the lowest level in the European Union, following increases totalling 75 basis points between October 2005 and September 2006. It is a record 125 basis points below the euro zone equivalent.

[PRAGUE/Reuters/Finance.cz]