PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech interest rates in the coming years will be higher than in the past and cuts will be done with caution, central bank Governor Ales Michl said on Thursday.
“We will cut (rates) but very carefully. But in any case, on average, interest rates should be higher than we were used to,” he said at an economic conference, reiterating past messages.
Michl had said the board would be cautious on rate cuts after policymakers’ last meeting in September, when the bank delivered a 25-basis-point rate reduction, the seventh decrease since it started easing last December.
In total, it has cut its main rate by 275 basis points to 4.25% since its monetary easing cycle began in December.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
