Czech president to meet c.bank governor on Friday

PRAGUE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus will meet central bank (CNB) Governor Zdenek Tuma on Friday, the president's office said, without providing any details about the focus of their meeting.

Klaus invited Tuma for talks just a few days before the six-year mandates of two of the CNB's seven policymakers -- Michaela Erbenova and Jan Frait -- are due to end on Nov. 30.

Klaus, who has the sole power to pick central bankers without either the government or parliament having to agree, has yet to say whether or not he will reappoint either to the seven-member CNB policy board.

Sources inside and outside the bank have told Reuters Klaus looks likely to replace at least one of them, probably outspoken inflation dove Frait.

Both Erbenova and Frait joined the CNB's board -- which sets interest rates and runs exchange rate policy in the European Union member -- on Dec. 1, 2000, but no obvious candidate to replace either has surfaced.

Klaus' spokesman Petr Hajek declined to say whether the president would announce his decision on Friday or at a later date. ((Reporting by Marek Petrus; Reuters Messaging: rm://marek.petrus.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com or marek.petrus@reuters.com; Tel: +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: ECONOMY CZECH CBANKER