* Vice-Gov Tomsik says next move can be in either direction
* Hawk Zamrazilova sees no acute need to hike
(Adds Zamrazilova comments)
PRAGUE, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Czech central bank policymakers
indicated on Monday that rates may remain on hold for some time,
with one saying the next move could be up or down and another
appearing to moderate her previously hawkish stance.
Another central banker had suggested on Friday that rates
could start to rise in mid-2011, but the comments from
Vice-Governor Vladimir Tomsik and board member Eva Zamrazilova
seem to confirm the bank is in wait-and-see mode.
The Czech central bank recently downgraded its growth
forecasts, citing the government's fiscal austerity plans for
the next year and an uncertain economic outlook for the
country's key trading partners in the euro zone.
"I personally expect stability of rates at the moment.
However, in the future a move in any direction cannot be ruled
out," Tomsik was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview.
Speaking to daily E15, Tomsik said fiscal consolidation, the
end of a solar energy boom, and waning inventory re-stocking
would weigh on growth.
Zamrazilova, known for her hawkish stance in recent months,
said she saw no need to hike rates quickly, although she held to
her view that rates should go higher.
"There is no acute need to raise monetary policy rates," she
told reporters. "At the same time, I am of the opinion that it
is not necessary to leave monetary policy rates at the current
extremely low level."
Zamrazilova was the lone voter for a rate rise at the last
two monetary policy meetings.
The Czech central bank's key two-week repo rate has stood at
0.75 percent since a quarter-point cut in May. The bank next
meets on rates on Dec. 22.
Its latest quarterly forecast, released last month, counts
on stability in rates for much of next year, after which policy
is forecast to be tightened. The report surprised the market,
which had expected hikes to come sooner.
The new forecast assumes slower growth next year, at 1.2
percent after 2.3 percent expected this year.
Another monetary policymaker, Robert Holman, was quoted by
news agency Bloomberg on Friday as saying the central bank may
start lifting interest rates from record lows in mid-2011,
earlier than assumed in the bank's staff forecast.
[]
A fourth board member, Pavel Rezabek, said earlier this
month that interest rates were too low but that rate stability
was an anchor for the economy. []
(Reporting by Jason Hovet, Jana Mlcochova and Robert Mueller;
Editing by Catherine Evans)
