Czech central bank: policy may be stricter than forecast

The Czech central bank's monetary policy may be stricter than the path implied by the bank's quarterly economic forecast, the board said in a statement presented by Governor Ales Michl on Thursday, after it cut the main interest rate by 25 basis points."As the degree of monetary policy restriction eases gradually and some longer-term inflationary risks persist, the Bank Board will approach any further monetary policy easing with great caution," the statement said. "It is therefore possible that monetary policy will remain slightly restrictive for longer than expected in the baseline scenario."The forecast implied interest rates dropping to around 3% by the year-end.