Crown Finishes Strong – 2nd Fastest Growing Currency in 2017

Prague, Dec 29 (CTK) – The crown continued firming to the euro and the US dollar today and became the second fastest growing currency this year, around 17:00 it traded for Kc25.53/EUR and to the dollar it added 15 hellers to Kc21.28/$, according to data from the Patria Online server and information of analysts.

 

The crown thus approached the level of Kc25.50/EUR after one month and to the US dollar was the strongest since September 2014.

 

According to data from Bloomberg agency, at 17:00 the crown was the most successful global currency this year. At the close of the trading, it was overtaken by Mozambique’s metical, Komercni banka economist Marek Drimal remarked.

 

“The Czech currency thus ends this year second ahead of the Polish zloty,” he added.

 

The crown has firmed by some one fifth to the US dollar this year. To the euro, the crown has added 5 hellers today and almost 6 percent in the whole year.

 

“The factors which have helped the crown were the end of the Czech National Bank’s exchange rate pledge, excellent performance of the Czech economy, pulled also by exports, and the raising of interest rates by the central bank which has attracted new financial investors,” Drimal said.

 

The crown’s firming in the last two days came mainly thanks to the end of the unfavourable effect of the end of the year as Thursday’s and today’s purchases of crowns will be settled only in January.

 

Some investors were selling crowns as recently as on Wednesday because owning crowns is expensive before the turn of the year due to the payments that Czech banks have to make to the Single Resolution Fund.

 

The crown keeps firming also thanks to investor expectations that the CNB will raise interest rates again next year.

 

“At the end of next year, we expect the crown’s rate to the euro at Kc24.70/EUR. One dollar should cost some Kc19.50,” Drimal forecast.

 

Rate of Czech crown:

 

Previous close

Around 17:00 today

Kc/EUR

25.58

25.53

Kc/USD

21.43

21.28

 

Source: Patria Online