Czechs Weigh Delayed Stimulus Exit as Currency Cap Upheld

The Czech central bank sees an “increasing” chance of a later exit from its unorthodox policy easing after it lowered its inflation forecast and maintained a cap on koruna gains.

Policy makers in Prague left their benchmark interest rate at 0.05 percent today for a 12th meeting, matching the estimates of all 12 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The bank also reaffirmed a commitment not to let the koruna “strengthen too much” beyond 27 per euro, a limit on the currency pair set on Nov. 7. While the central bank raised its economic growth forecast for this year and next, its estimate for inflation was cut for the second and third quarters of 2015.