Slovak cbanker: Board unanimous in holding rates

...and the NBS needs more time to analyse the figures, Governor Ivan Sramko said.

Sramko told a news conference after the monthly rate meeting that the NBS needs to analyse economic trends for possible inflation risks, before making any policy moves, if any.

He said the board was unanimous in backing a decision to hold rates, and that no vote on any other proposal was taken.

Sramko added the optimal scenario would be for interest rates to gradually approach euro zone levels.

The NBS, as expected, held the main two-week repo rate unchanged at 4.25 percent -- 50 points above the main ECB rate -- after easing policy by 25 basis points in both March and April.

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]