UPDATE 3-Czech President surprises with central bank choice

(Adds Tomsik quotes, more analysts)

By Jan Lopatka

PRAGUE, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus on Friday appointed 32-year-old economist Vladimir Tomsik, an academic whose views on the central bank's (CNB) current monetary policy are unknown, to the bank board.

Klaus made the announcement in a statement after talks with CNB Governor Zdenek Tuma earlier in the day, just before the six-year mandates of two of the CNB's seven policymakers -- Michaela Erbenova and Jan Frait -- end on Nov. 30.

Klaus, who has sole power to pick central bankers without government or parliament having to agree, did not say in the statement if Tomsik is replacing Erbenova or Frait.

A spokesman for Klaus told Reuters the president will announce his second nomination next week and sources close to the central bank said both were very likely to be replaced.

Tomsik told Reuters in his first comments since the announcement he would not pursue purely theoretical views on monetary policy and would seek to be pragmatic about decisions.

"It is necessary to have a pragmatic view of things. One cannot come to the bank as a theoretician," Tomsik said in a telephone interview from Canada where he has been on a mission with the World Trade Institute for which he currently works.

Asked whether he would describe himself as having rather dovish or hawkish views on inflation, he said: "I guess one can only tell in retrospect, and it'd better be if outside observers make such a judgement."

Analysts said the new members are unlikely to change the conduct of policy at the bank, whose key interest rate is 75 basis points below the euro zone equivalent.

However, in his previous choices the euro-sceptic president tapped people who reinforced the CNB's cautious stance towards euro adoption and are toward the hawkish side on policy.

"He is still in the academic sphere, but apart from that he has also collected practical experience. I think it is an ideal combination of knowledge and experience," said David Marek, an acquaintance of Tomsik and chief economist at Patria Finance.

Both Erbenova and Frait joined the CNB's board -- which sets interest rates and runs exchange rate policy -- on Dec. 1, 2000, but no obvious candidate to replace either had surfaced prior to Tomsik's nomination.

"I'd say his stance (on the euro) will be pragmatic. I would not say he is a euro-sceptic nor euro-optimist, but I'd say his stance will be balanced and based on expert opinion," added Marek.

Tomsik, who has degrees in economic policy and economics at the University of Economics (VSE) and the Charles University, both in Prague, is an associate professor at the VSE.

Between 1997 and 2005, he taught courses focused on economic policy, macroeconomic analysis and forecasting at the VSE, an institution which the monetarist Klaus earlier attended.

Tomsik has also worked as private sector analyst and since 2005 has been deputy leader of a team researching multilateral trade agreements at the World Trade Institute in Switzerland.

"Vladimir Tomsik is a very strong economist in monetary policy, macroeconomic analysis and econometrics, with a number of expert publications," said Miroslav Plojhar, chief economist at Citibank in Prague.

-- with reporting by Petra Vodstrcilova and Marek Petrus ((Writing by Alan Crosby; prague.newsroom@reuters.com; Editing by Gerrard Raven; Reuters Messaging: alan.crosby.reuters.com@reuters.net; +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: ECONOMY CZECH CBANK