* FX flat, zloty pauses rally as euro weakens vs dollar
* Hungary, Czech Republic figures well above forecast
By Marius Zaharia
BUCHAREST, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Central European currencies
were little changed on Friday, as a weak euro offset
forecast-beating industrial output figures out of Czech Republic
and Hungary.
Czech industrial output rose well above analysts' forecasts
at 15.9 percent year-on-year in November, a second straight day
of strong data following a large jump in exports released on
Thursday. []
Hungary's industry figures also came out much higher than
expected, posting 14.5 percent growth. Analysts attributed the
good performance to exports to Germany.
"This is less of a surprise after yesterday's German
industrial orders data, but this is still a positive surprise,"
said Zoltan Arokszallasi of Erste Bank in Budapest. "I think we
could see a double-digit ... output rise in December as well."
But regional assets did not benefit from the positive
figure, as the euro, central Europe's reference currency, hit
four-month lows against the dollar. Currencies usually track
changes in the euro/dollar cross.
At 0840 GMT, the Czech crown <EURCZK=> was 0.1 percent up on
the day, while the Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> was flat.
The Polish zloty <EURPLN=> was slightly weaker in thin
trade, but remained close to a nine-month high of 3.8460 per
euro hit in the previous session on increased expectations that
Poland's central bank may start hiking interest rates soon.
Dealers said the forint remained vulnerable as Hungary,
which took over the six-month European Union presidency at the
start of the year, continued to face criticism for its budget
policies and other reforms.
Later on Friday, Hungary will also issue December budget
balance data <HUDEF=ECI>. On Thursday, Prime Minister Viktor
Orban said the country had met its 3.8 percent of GDP budget
deficit target for 2010.
Markets are keeping in mind a promise by the government to
announce spending cuts in February, and further volatility could
be sparked if this is not delivered.
"We maintain our view that the government can realistically
keep the general government budget deficit below 3.0 percent of
GDP in 2012 and beyond if it embarks on spending cuts," Credit
Suisse said in a note.
The International Monetary Fund's board will review
Romania's 20 billion euro aid package on Friday. The country is
set to receive the next tranche from the IMF worth about 900
million euros and more than 1 billion from the EU Commission.
Romania's leu <EURRON=> was up 0.1 percent.
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2011
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 24.617 24.633 +0.06% +1.56%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 3.868 3.866 -0.05% +2.33%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 276.53 276.07 -0.17% +0.52%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.4 7.398 -0.03% -0.27%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.251 4.254 +0.07% -0.42%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 105.93 105.917 -0.01% 0%
* Benchmark is German bond equivalent.
All data taken from Reuters at 1040 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1700 GMT.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaux, writing by Marius Zaharia;
editing by Stephen Nisbet)
