...Thursday:
LAUREN VAN BILJON, ANALYST, 4CAST CONSULTANCY, LONDON
"It's likely that voting was close, but the absence of dovish (member Vladimir) Tomsik left an opening for the hawks.
"It was only a few months ago that the CNB board was talking about rates remaining flat over the medium term, but since then data have been pointing to rising inflationary pressures within the economy.
"The dovish members of the board were keen to wait a little while longer before raising rates, with several having mentioned forthcoming Q1 data as important. However, the hawks have been pressing for a rate hike before inflation is clearly present in the data, and it seems that they won out in the end."
Keywords: CZECH ECONOMY/CENTRALBANK RATES
[PRAGUE/Reuters/Finance.cz]