By Anita Komuves BUDAPEST, June 11 (Reuters) – The Czech koruna strengthened to its highest level in 15 months on Friday, while other regional currencies held steady near recent highs, supported by positive sentiment after the European Central Bank on Thursday raised its growth forecasts. . The ECB has raised its growth and inflation projections, while committing to a steady flow of stimulus measures for now. Shares in the region were mixed, with Budapest gaining 0.44% at 09:08 GMT after hitting a new high earlier in the session. Prague edged down 0.15% while Warsaw slipped 0.38%. Bucharest added 0.98%. Currencies were also supported by rate hike expectations as the Central European region faces the EU’s biggest inflation spike as economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. May inflation figures released this week are lower than expected for Hungary and the Czech Republic. However, this did not lower expectations for policy tightening as in Hungary’s case the reading was well above the central bank’s target range. Consumer price inflation in Romania accelerated to 3.75% on the year in May from 3.24% in April, above market expectations, according to data released on Friday. Markets anticipate a rate hike for June or August in the Czech Republic as Hungary’s central bank reiterated on Tuesday that it could become the first in the European Union to launch a tightening cycle this month. The Czech koruna was up 0.17% and trading at 25.300 per euro, strengthening beyond important technical levels. The Polish zloty was stable ahead of central bank governor Adam Glapinski’s press conference at 13:00 GMT. Glapinski “could brighten the sky if the rejection of most bids at the second auction in May was a start to the reduction in the quantitative easing program,” Erste Bank wrote in a note. The Polish central bank kept rates on hold on Wednesday and left no hints of a more hawkish bias, which analysts expected to weigh on the zloty. SNAPSHOT OF EEC MARKETS T 1108 CET CURRENCY Last daily change previous change of bid closing in 2021 EURCZK = Czech% EURHUF = Hungary 0% EURPLN = Polish% EURRON = Romanian EURHRK = Croatian% EURRSD = Serbian 0% Note : calculated from 1800 CET daily change Last previous Near daily change 2021 .PX Prague 1177.88 1179.610 -0.15% +14.6 0 8% .BUX Budapest 48688.7 48475.07 +0, 44% +15.6 5 3% .WIG20 Warsaw 2,228.44 2,236.89 -0.38% + 12.3 2% .BETI Buchares 11,476.7 11,365.47 + 0.98% +17.0 t 3 4 % .SBITOP Ljubljan <.sbitop a> 4% .CRBEX Zagreb 1963.84 1959.77 + 0.21% +12.9 1% .BELEX1 Belgrade <.belex1> % .SOFIX Sofia 545.31 541.56 + 0.69% +21.8 5% Yield Yield Spread Daily variation (bid) vs Bund variation of Czech spread Republic CZ2YT = R 2 years CZ5YT = R 5 years CZ10YT = s Poland PL2YT = R 2 years s PL5YT = R 5 years s PL10YT = s FORWARD 3×6 6×9 9×12 3M Czech interbank 0.74 0.99 1.29 0.42 Hungary Rep 1.31 1.57 1.73 0.93 Poland 0 , 28 0.44 0.60 0.21 Note: are for requesting price quotes FRA ****************************** ************* **** ***************** (Additional reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague and Agnieszka Barteczko in Warsaw; Editing by Giles Elgood)