The crown hit its highest since February 2020 - when the COVID - 19 pandemic first began rattling markets - on Thursday amid a growing debate about whether the Czech central bank could speed up his rate hiking cycle or not? On emerging wholesale power prices, the central indices rose with Prague leading gains and that Czech utility CEZ hit a new nine-year high on rising energy prices. The Czech Republic and Hungary were the first two European Union countries to see rising interest rates, as their central banks seek to tame price pressures when economies recover from the pandemic. Central Europe is facing a combination of external pressures, like tightening labour markets and post-pandemic consumer demand, and domestic factors like those caused by global supply snags and rising energy and materials costs. Statistics on Thursday showed the Czech manufacturer prices grew at the fastest annual rate since 1993, adding to arguments that the central bank may need faster interest rate hikes. In an interview published Wednesday, Central banker Marek Mora was also quoted by Bloomberg as saying odds were moving closer to the possibility of a heftier 50 basis point rate hike. The crown was up 0.3% at 25.255 euro in 0929 GMT to the euro. Komercni Banka said on Thursday that it saw the Czech National Bank's key interest rate rise to 2.00% by the end of the year, indicating a faster tempo of hikes than the standard 25 basis point increases taken at the last two meetings. Yes, it is fast, but the Financial Market is pricing in something similar, Komercni Banka said in a note, adding that rate hikes would not have to be so big next year if inflation slowed. The crown still remains at pre-pandemic levels of 24.77 to the Euro touched in mid February 2020, before markets started retreating as COVID – 19 infections gathered pace across the world. Hungary's forint is also off pre-COVID - 19 highs, but has gained almost 4% the year this year - same as the crown - as interest rates there also increased. On Thursday the value of euro was steady 349.15 to the euro. The Polish zloty fell 0.1% and continued to lag as the central bank of Poland keeps policy loose despite inflation hitting a two-decade high. In this context, a longer period of ultra low interest rates poses a risk of growing imbalances in the economy. Delaying the beginning of this process could increase the cost of bringing inflation down to the target, Bank Millennium said on Thursday.