Transcript of the questions and answers from the press conference

You have already slightly disputed the market expectations that rates could start decreasing already in June, and in August at the latest. My question is, since you called it premature, are we talking about the start, meaning we should expect rates to start decreasing later? Or do you also view the magnitude expected by the market, namely at least 100 basis points by the year-end, as exaggerated? Do you also view this expectation as excessive? Can you make any further comments on this?

In my response, I would add that I also said that we may not necessarily be at the peak of our interest rates.

No opinion on reducing interest rates was voiced at today’s meeting. And I think the Bank Board members had no thoughts about it in their heads.

A question about the koruna. You and your colleagues have recently been mentioning the koruna as an important tool for fighting inflation. We have seen that recently, during the crisis linked with some US and Swiss banks, the koruna weakened fairly sharply, at least temporarily. Did you discuss this today, and did you discuss what you could do to support this important tool you have for fighting inflation?

A strong koruna remains essential. It makes imports cheaper. We welcome a strong koruna. It could actually be even stronger than now. We didn’t discuss it beyond this.