* Poland agrees with Eureko to postpone PZU meeting
* Czech parliament continues key fiscal debates
* Mkts eye Polish, Hungarian, Romanian rate moves next week
By Marius Zaharia
BUCHAREST, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Polish zloty led losses
early on Friday amid uncertainty over a possible big dividend
payout, while the Czech crown was frozen by doubts that a
package of measures to stabilise the budget will get the green
light from parliament.
In Poland, the government agreed with Dutch firm Eureko
<EUREK.UL> on Thursday to postpone by a week a shareholder
meeting of Polish insurer PZU. []
Fears that Poland, which holds 55 percent of PZU, would back
it paying a 12 billion zlotys dividend and that Eureko may
convert its part into euros have weighed on the zloty this week.
"The issue of (a possible payout) is important for the
currency and surely it can affect it further," one Warsaw-based
dealer said.
By 0724 GMT, the zloty had fallen 0.6 percent to its lowest
level in 10 days. The Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> lost 0.2
percent, while the Romanian leu <EURRON=> and the Czech crown
<EURCZK=> were flat.
Czech political parties clashed on Thursday over a savings
package aimed at cutting next year's budget deficit, making its
approval doubtful [].
The debate continues on Friday and markets are watching for
government threats that it would quit if the package is not
approved or if it is changes substantially.
Meanwhile, the central bank left interest rates unchanged at
a record low of 1.25 percent on Thursday, in line with market
expectations. But the bank made dovish comments which analysts
said left the door open to one more possible cut in November.
"Two board members did vote for a cut, which is still
possible in our view," Cheuvreux said in a note.
There are more central bank meetings in the region next
week, with Hungary and Romania expected to cut rates by 50 basis
points [] [], while Poland is seen
holding fire [].
In Romania, the leu hovered near five-week highs as the
government survived a no-confidence vote on Thursday and passed
key IMF-prescribed reforms [].
In Albania, officials called for calm after the lek currency
<EURALL=> neared a record low against the euro, prompted by
comments a week ago from Prime Minister Sali Berisha that
Albania should adopt the common EU currency. []
But analysts saw little chance of fallout in emerging
Europe's other more liquid markets.
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2009
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 25.175 25.206 +0.12% +6.27%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 4.211 4.186 -0.59% -2.28%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 271.23 270.6 -0.23% -2.83%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.267 7.263 -0.06% +1.35%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.209 4.212 +0.07% -4.62%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 92.8 93.197 +0.43% -3.58%
All data taken from Reuters at 1024 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1600 GMT.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, writing by Marius Zaharia
Editing by Patrick Graham)
