(Adds Poland interest rate decision, analyst comment, updates
prices)
WARSAW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The zloty edged up on
Wednesday as Poland's central bank kept rates on hold as
expected, while other Central Eastern European currencies traded
steady.
The Polish Monetary Policy Council (MPC) extended its
pause, as forecast by all analysts in a Reuters poll, with
attention turning to National Bank of Poland (NBP) Governor Adam
Glapinski's Thursday press conference for clues on the rates
path.
He has flagged earlier that discussions on resuming rate
cuts could start after the NBP's next inflation projection in
March.
At 1442 GMT the Polish zloty traded 0.18%
higher to the euro at 4.2835, nearing its strongest level since
early October.
"The MPC will cut interest rates later than other
central banks. Consensus sees the first cuts only in Q2 2025,
along with a decline in inflation. Economists predict that the
CPI will slowly start to return to the inflation target," Polish
Economic Institute analysts wrote on X.
In earlier comments, PKO BP analysts pointed to
developments since the last rate-setting meeting, including
Poland's decision to extend an energy price cap into 2025, as
well as weak private consumption data and the zloty's recovery
since the Nov. 5 U.S. elections.
"In our opinion, the arguments for a rate cut are growing,"
they wrote.
The Czech crown was 0.06% lower against the
euro at 25.1870, after hitting its strongest level since late
September at 25.11 in early trading.
The Czech National Bank (CNB) is very likely to pause
interest rate cuts soon, opting for stability and assessing new
forecasts with the aim of lowering core inflation in the future
to slightly below 2%, Governor Ales Michl said.
The central bank has cut rates at consecutive meetings since
December 2023, taking its key rate to 4.00% from a more than
two-decade high of 7.00%.
"Czech Governor Michl's comments were actually in line with
his previous statements, as Governor Michl belongs to that part
of the CNB Board which adopted a cautious approach to further
interest rate cuts," Radomir Jac, chief economist at Generali
Investments CEE, said.
Czech wage data for the third quarter released on Wednesday
"support the case of a pause in the cycle of rate cuts at the
CNB's upcoming monetary policy meeting on December 19", he said,
adding he expected a resumption of easing in the first quarter
of 2025 with a 25 basis point cut in each quarter of next year.
"Today's news - wage statistics and Governor Michl's
comments - can be seen as factors, which contributed to further
slight CZK gains this morning," Jac said.
In Hungary, the forint inched 0.1% higher against
the euro, trading at 414.10, off of its weakest level since
December 2022, having fallen last week after credit rating
agency Moody's revised the country's outlook to "negative" from
"stable".
CEE SNAPSHOT AT
MARKETS 1542 CET
CURRENCI
ES
Latest Previous Daily Change
trade close change in 2024
Czech 25.1870 25.1715 -0.06% -1.93%
crown
Hungary 414.1000 414.5200 +0.10% -7.47%
forint
Polish 4.2835 4.2913 +0.18% +1.42%
zloty
Romanian 4.9773 4.9773 +0.00% -0.06%
leu
Serbian 116.8800 116.9600 +0.07% +0.31%
dinar
Note: calculated from 1800 CET
daily
change
Latest Previous Daily Change
close change in 2024
Prague 1705.42 1707.610 -0.13% +20.61%
0
Budapest 79088.71 77690.26 +1.80% +30.47%
Warsaw 2270.80 2240.58 +1.35% -3.08%
Bucharest 16264.10 16060.28 +1.27% +5.81%
Spread Daily
vs Bund change
in
Czech spread
Republic
2-year 5-year 10-year Poland
2-year 5-year 10-year FORWARD
3x6 6x9 9x12 3M
interban
k
Czech Rep Hungary Poland Note: FRA are for ask prices
quotes
**************************************************
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(Reporting by Karol Badohal in Warsaw, Anita Komuves in
Budapest, Jason Hovet in Prague. Editing by Mark Potter and
Vijay Kishore)
Line of Credit 
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