Czech c.bank says Jan CPI undershoots its forecast

...forecast, the CNB said on Wednesday.

Commenting on data released earlier in the day, the CNB said food costs rose quicker than forecast, but motor fuel prices and particularly the measure of inflation net of volatile food, fuel and regulated items, were both lower than expected.

"This signals that the present inflation pressures from the real economy remain modest, and furthermore have so far been compensated for by the past firming in the crown," said Tomas Holub, head of the CNB's monetary and statistics department.

The annual rise in the consumer price index (CPI), the broad gauge of inflation targeted by the CNB, slowed from 1.7 percent in December, leading investors to abandon expectations of an interest rate rise before the second half of the year.

[PRAGUE/Reuters/Finance.cz]