Czech c.banker Frait sees int.rates rising - paper

PRAGUE, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The state of the global economy calls for higher interest rates in the Czech Republic, central bank policymaker Jan Frait was quoted as saying in an interview with the weekly newspaper Tyden published on Monday.

The Czech Republic has had the lowest level of interest rates in the European Union along with Sweden, after the central bank raised the key repo rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.50 percent last month, just two months after a similar increase in July.

"I have been an advocate of low interest rate policy in recent years. I have made no secret about that ... I considered it necessary because of the situation in the global economy," Frait was quoted as saying in the interview.

"But at present, the situation is changing and also the CNB (central bank) needs to react somehow and increase interest rates. The pressure is again coming from the outside and we have to adapt to that," he added. ((Reporting by Marek Petrus, editing by Ben Tan; 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