* Vice-governors Singer, Hampl top candidates for successor
* Crown dips 0.3 percent, then recovers
* Market calm, sees policy continuity
* For INSTANT VIEW, click on []
(Adds analysts, background, updates crown)
By Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE, April 15 (Reuters) - Czech central bank Governor
Zdenek Tuma announced on Thursday he is leaving his post early
to reduce a lengthy period of speculation about his successor.
Two Czech central bank vice-governors were seen as the top
candidates to replace him.
Tuma's, who said he would step down on June 30 even though
his term only ends in February, took the reins in 2000 and won
high respect in the market for steering Czech monetary policy
toward a long period of low inflation and the lowest interest
rates in the region.
Tuma, at a news conference, said he made no recomendations
to President Vaclav Klaus on who should be his successor, and
Klaus, in a statement, did not comment on who he might pick.
The two top contenders are both more euro sceptic than the
mostly neutral Tuma, although they both respect the matter to be
one for politicians rather than the bank. Analysts do not expect
major impact on interest rate policy.
"It is quite natural that a tendency is growing to evaluate
steps and comments by central bank board members from the point
of view of this change (of governor in February)," Tuma said in
a statement.
"I realise, also in light of a similar experience from six
years ago, that it will be the better for the Czech National
Bank if the period of uncertainty connected with the
reconstruction of the board will be as short as possible."
The crown, which scaled seven-month peaks this week, dipped
0.3 percent against the euro <EURCZK=> after the announcement,
hitting a session low of 25.135 to the euro before rebounding
back to earlier levels of 25.08.
Tuma, 49, said he also wanted to separate the expiration of
the governor's mandate from the expiry of the terms of three
other members of the seven-strong board.
His resignation follows the tragic death of Polish central
bank chief Slawomir Skrzypek last week and the resignation of
Serbian Governor Radovan Jelasic last month.
VICE-GOVERNORS IN SPOTLIGHT
The resignation will come shortly after the parliamentary
election on May 28-29, but that should not have an impact on the
succession process.
Analysts see two vice-governors, Miroslav Singer or Mojmir
Hampl, as Tuma's most likely successor.
Both have consistently questioned benefits of the single
currency for a small economy catching up with the richer west.
"If the president wants to support continuity then it should
be one of the vice-governors. ... Singer has been longer in the
board, but Hampl became more visible over the past two years and
has commented in critical articles on the IMF which has likely
resonated with President Klaus," said Vojtech Benda, senior
economist at ING in Prague.
"I don't think the choice will change the market's view very
much. ... The real earthquake will be next year when three
people are replaced on the board. That's the bigger uncertainty."
Responsibility for choosing the central bank chief, for a
six-year term, lies solely with the euro sceptic Klaus.
He can pick anybody he wants, but there has been consensus
in the market he would likely opt for one of the governors.
Singer, 41, has been in favour of more flexibility in moving
interest rates. He, along with board member Vladimir Tomsik,
voted for a rate cut last month, against a majority of the board
that endorsed flat rates at 1 percent.
Hampl, 35, sharply criticised the International Monetary
Fund in a newspaper interview earlier this month, saying the
fund helped worsen the economic crisis in central and eastern
Europe last year to boost its clout as a rescuer.
[]
Hampl voted for stable rates last month, along with Tuma
and the board majority. He has warned that a drop in economic
capacity during the economic crisis may shrink the Czech
potential output and thus lead to a need for higher rates.
(Additional reporting by Jana Mlcochova and Jason Hovet;
Editing by Susan Fenton and Neil Stempleman)
