(Repeats story published late on Thursday)
By Martin Dokoupil
PRAGUE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus
chose Eva Zamrazilova, a Komercni Banka analyst, whose views on
the bank's monetary policy are little known, as a new central
bank board member on Thursday.
Klaus made the announcement after talks with Czech National
Bank (CNB) Governor Zdenek Tuma. The second six-year mandate of
Vice Governor Ludek Niedermayer expires next week and Klaus has
yet to name his replacement.
Two sources close to CNB told Reuters late on Thursday Klaus
was likely to appoint Mojmir Hampl to replace Niedermayer as the
Vice Governor. Hampl has been on the seven-member policy-making
CNB board since the end of 2006.
The sources said the president, who has sole power to pick
central bankers without the government or parliament consent,
would name Hampl to the vice governor post together with
Zamrazilova appointment on Friday.
Zamrazilova, 46, declined to comment on her policy views,
when contacted by Reuters, saying she needed time to familiarise
herself with the bank's communication strategy.
But she said in a Thursday research note, obtained by
Reuters before her nomination, that the impact of price shocks,
which boosted inflation to a nine-year high of 7.5 percent in
January, should start to fade in the second half of 2008.
"Tightening of monetary policy ... will soon cool down
strong consumer demand and will help to push down demand
inflationary pressures," Zamrazilova wrote.
She also said the record strong crown currency would keep
pressing down import prices, but added it was unclear whether
some second-round effects will not take place, naming wages as
another risky factor for inflation.
"Even though it is clear that the January 2008 inflation
hike has been driven mostly by administrative measures and
represents a one-off fluctuation, the inflation outlook is
biased with a high degree of uncertainty," Zamrazilova said.
The January price spike has already sparked expectations
that the CNB could delay any interest rate cuts beyond end-2008,
and even revived speculation the bank may tighten policy further
after 200 basis points worth of rate increases since late 2005.
The CNB last raised the key two-week repo rate by 25 basis
points on Feb. 7 to a nearly six-year high of 3.75 percent.
NO POLICY CHANGE
Local media has frequently touted the head of the Czech
presidential office, Jiri Weigl, and the CNB's human resources
chief, Vladimir Kolman, as possible candidates to join the
bank's governing board.
Former securities markets regulator Milan Simacek and the
head of the central bank's monetary and policy department, Tomas
Holub, had been also on watchers' list.
Zamrazilova, who has been working on economic forecasts in a
team of Komercni Banka's chief economist since 1994, focuses on
a range of topics including macroeconomic balance, convergence
of transition economies, economic policy or labour market.
Analysts said it was too early to judge policy preferences
of the new board member but expected no significant shift in
policy at the bank.
"The important thing is that it is a person that comes at
least partly from business, and therefore should have a little
better sense for what financial markets need and how to
communicate with them," said David Marek, chief economist at
Patria Finance in Prague.
"The monetary policy has been influenced by external factors
to such an extent - and I mean primarily high inflation - that
even a personal switch cannot substantially influence its
direction," he said.
Zamrazilova, who will be officially appointed on Friday,
will make her debut at the March 26 policy meeting.
The crown did not react to the announcement, standing at
25.140 per euro <EURCZK=> at 1550 GMT, compared with 25.200 late
on Wednesday.
The Czech president has been one of the most vocal opponents
of closer European integration in the European Union and
analysts said his decision to pick Zamrazilova for the job might
reinforce the bank's cautious stance on adoption of the euro.
Zamrazilova, who has a degree from the University of
Economics (VSE) in Prague, taught courses focused on statistics
theory and economic statistics at the VSE, an institution which
the monetarist Klaus earlier attended.
(Additional reporting by Petra Vodstrcilova and Jan Korselt)
