PRAGUE, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The Czech central bank board voted 5-2 in favour of a surprise 25 basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday, Governor Zdenek Tuma told a news conference.
He said the board discussed only no change to policy and the 25 point hike at the meeting, which defied most analysts who had expected policymakers to hold off on a move until next month.
Tuma said the rate hike was consistent with the central bank's July forecasts, and that risks to the forecasts were slightly pro-inflationary.
The increase puts the 2-week repo rate at 2.50 percent, 50 basis points below the key euro zone rate. ((Reporting by Jan Lopatka, editing by Alan Crosby; prague.newsroom@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: jan.lopatka.reuters.com@reuters.net; +420-224 190 474))
Keywords: ECONOMY CZECH TUMA