Central bank governor indicates new interest rate hike likely in June

Czech National Bank Governor Jiří Rusnok has indicated that the bank board will very likely raise the interest rate further in June if the bank's latest macroeconomic forecast proves right. Speaking on Czech Television on Sunday Mr. Rusnok said it was possible that the main interest rate will cross the 6% mark in June.

The central bank board last raised interest rates on May 5. The key interest rate rose by 0.75 percentage point to 5.75 percent. It was the sixth consecutive increase of more than 0.25 percentage point.

Governor Rusnok is due to office at the end of June and will be replaced by Aleš Michl, a current board member, who has signaled that he will propose putting interest rates on hold at his first monetary policy meeting in August.