Slovak crown weakens further on cbank, region

...previous session, and other emerging currencies were also softer, dealers said.

The Slovak unit traded at 34.870 per euro as of 0930 GMT, compared with 34.760 late on Wednesday.

The crown hit a new record high of 34.620 per euro on Wednesday, but fell back after Central Bank Governor Ivan Sramko said the recent rise was too fast and that the currency had reached levels not justified by economic fundamentals.

Slovenska Sporitelna Vladimir Gajdos said the market was still feeling the impact of Sramko's comments, while softer currencies in central Europe were another factor driving the crown.

"But I would not expect any major crown correction," Gajdos said.

Traders said the crown was likely to move in a wider range of 34.600-35.000 per euro in the near term because of low liquidity, in which small traded volumes may move the currency in either direction.

The crown is now trading 9.3 percent above its central parity set in the exchange rate mechanism ERM-2, the precursor to the euro, which Slovakia entered a year ago.

The market will now wait for a central bank monetary policy meeting scheduled for Dec. 19 to see whether the bank takes further measures to halt crown firming.

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]