The Czech crown held within sight of two-week highs against the euro in a holiday-thinned market on Friday, ahead of data releases next week which are expected to help clear up the outlook for monetary policy.
The crown traded at 27.885 per euro, but activity was low due to holidays in many countries. Czech financial markets are closed for a public holiday on Monday and reopen on Tuesday.
Central bank (CNB) policymakers warned in minutes from their March 29 meeting that labour shortages could fuel inflation as booming economic growth is drying up the pool of available workers and risks pushing salaries higher.
March consumer inflation, due out on Tuesday along with March jobless numbers, are expected to extend a gradual up-tick but remain below the central bank's target, confirming the low-inflation nature of the country's robust economic expansion.
The consumer price index (CPI) is expected to show a rise of 0.3 percent in March from February to take the annual inflation rate to 1.9 percent, according to the median forecast of 14 analysts polled by Reuters.
"The data will likely confirm rising inflationary pressures and support market expectations about an interest rate increase this year," said ING economist Vojtech Benda.
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