CEE MARKETS-Forint hits nine-month high as China banker says rate hike possible in June

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May 17 (Reuters) - The Hungarian forint hit a nine-month high on Monday after the deputy governor of the central bank said that from June it will adjust short-term rates proactively to tackle rising inflation risks. Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland all saw inflation spike outside their central banks' target zones in April, but previously only the Czech central bank had been tipped by markets to hike interest rates this year. "This will be a data-driven process, in several steps...and the possibility of a hike in the base rate is worth assessing already in June," Barnabas Virag told reporters. At 0821 GMT the forint was 0.73% firmer against the euro at 352.80. A Budapest-based fixed income dealer said long-end bond yields went up 5 basis points, while short-end yields went up 15 basis points. "The central bank took markets by surprise... in that we now expect some form of a tightening cycle, not a single hike. How much they will hike, that's the million dollar question," the dealer said. The Hungarian central bank has consistently said it has no foreign exchange goal but it would fight inflation proactively. Takarekbank economist Gergely Suppan said that forward rate agreements (FRAs) were pricing in that the base rate, currently at 0.6%, would probably be moved in line with the one-week deposit rate, which is currently 0.75%. The one-week deposit rate is expected to rise to 0.9% by next month, Suppan said. The Polish zloty and the Czech crown were both a touch firmer, strengthening 0.06% and 0.05% respectively. In Poland, the government on Saturday presented its "Polish Deal" economic programme, promising lower taxes for most, higher healthcare spending and help to buy homes. "This programme is undoubtedly aimed at people with relatively lower incomes, which should favour consumption growth," Bank Millennium analysts said in a note. Poland's WIG 20 index was up 1.11%. The main indices in Prague and Budapest were up 0.39% and 0.22% respectively. "The most recent economic plan will affect companies exposed to retail demand such as Dino / Jeronimo Martins / Eurocash / Allegro," said Ipopema analyst Robert Maj. Shares in Allegro rose over 4.5%, the biggest gainers on the WIG 20. CEE SNAPSHO AT MARKETS T 1021 CET CURRENC IES Latest Previou Daily Change s bid close change in 2021 EURCZK CzechEURHUF Hungary 0 0 EURPLN Polish EURRON Romanian EURHRK Croatian EURRSD Serbian 0 0 Note: calcula 1800 daily ted CET change from STOCKS Latest Previou Daily Change s close change in 2021 .PX Prague 1126.16 1121.81 +0.39% +9.64% 00 .BUX Budapest 45531.1 45429.1 +0.22% +8.13% 8 2 .WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 2116.03 2092.80 +1.11% +6.66% > .BETI Buchares 11621.3 11593.4 +0.24% +18.52 t 8 9 % .SBITO Ljubljan <.SBITO 1079.04 1074.68 +0.41% +19.78 P a P> % .CRBEX Zagreb <.CRBEX 1939.30 1940.04 -0.04% +11.50 > % .BELEX Belgrade <.BELEX 761.62 759.38 +0.29% +1.74% 15 15> .SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 523.40 522.39 +0.19% +16.95 > % BONDS Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republic CZ2YT= 2-year s CZ5YT= 5-year s CZ10YT s Poland PL2YT= 2-year s PL5YT= 5-year s PL10YT s FRA 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech Hungary Poland Note: FRA quotes are for ask prices *********************************** *************************** (Reporting by Alan Charlish in Warsaw, Marton Dunai in Budapest and Anna Banacka in Gdansk; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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