INTERVIEW-Slovak CPI jump no threat to euro plan-c.banker

...NBS board member Ludovit Odor said on Wednesday.

"We knew that a food price (rise) will come, but we did not know how this will be distributed in individual months, so the rise was certainly surprising," Odor told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"In terms of the numbers it (meeting euro entry test) is almost certain, and there is also a very good chance that our partners will assess (inflation) sustainability in a positive way," he said.

The Slovak Statistics Office reported on Monday that consumer prices rose 3.3 percent on an annual basis in October, the highest level since December last year, from 2.8 percent the previous month.

Odor, who heads economic research at the NBS, also said monetary policy remained restrictive and in line with economic developments and that surprisingly high GDP growth in the third quarter did not require a change of NBS forecasts.

(Reporting by Martin Dokoupil; editing by Stephen Nisbet)

Keywords: SLOVAKIA CBANK/ODOR

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]