PRAGUE (Reuters) -Czech President Milos Zeman appointed Jan Prochazka, the chairman of a state export insurance agency, and economist Jan Kubicek to the seven-member Czech National Bank board on Wednesday.
They will replace two members whose terms expire in mid-February.
The appointments are unlikely to swing the balance of opinion within the bank, which has been voting 5-2 in favour of no more policy tightening since the last changes to the board in July.
Most rate setters have signalled stability was preferred as the bank tries to steady a fast-slowing economy hit by inflation, which reached a three-decade high of 18% year-on-year in September before easing somewhat in recent months.
Governor Ales Michl, leading the board since July and an opponent of hikes during a year-long tightening cycle before that, said on Wednesday he expected price growth should slow significantly in the spring.
“The Czech National Bank’s absolute priority is to substantially reduce inflation,” he said at the appointment ceremony.
The new members will replace Vice-Governor Marek Mora, who favours tightening policy further, and Oldrich Dedek, who opposed rate hikes throughout the banks’ June 2021-June 2022 tightening campaign which lifted the main rate to 7% from 0.25%.
Current board member Jan Frait will become a vice-governor as part of the changes.
Prochazka, 43, currently chairs state company EGAP, which provides credit insurance for exports of Czech goods. He joined the company in 2012 from wealth manager Cyrrus. He has also been a part of state advisory councils on economics and legislation.
Kubicek, 46, a specialist in pension systems and fiscal issues, has worked as the head of office at the independent state budget watchdog, the Czech Fiscal Council, since earlier this year. He has also taught at the Prague University of Economics and Business.
He advised former central bank vice-governor Vladimir Tomsik from 2007 to 2013.
While Prochazka’s name is known in the wider financial and media community, Kubicek has had a lower public profile.
The appointments are the sole authority of the president and do not face any vetting.
The board will meet twice more in its current composition, on Dec. 21 and on Feb. 2, 2023.
In November, inflation came in at 16.2% year-on-year, partly reduced by government measures to ease the burden of soaring energy prices. The central bank said November inflation would have been 3.6 percentage points higher without the government initiatives.
(Reporting by Robert Muller, Jan Lopatka, and Jason Hovet; Editing by Alison Williams, Jonathan Oatis and Crispian Balmer)
