prague feb 23 reuters  the crisis between russia and ukraine will have an inflationary impact through higher energy prices and a downward effect on growth although the extent is still unclear czech central bank governor jiri rusnok said on wednesday rusnok told czech radio the crisis could delay the return of inflation  which has already surged to a more than twodecade high of near 10  to normal levels the central bank head though reiterated steep interest rate hikes would not be needed after a series of swift increases already delivered since last year it is not possible to rule out a further rate rise but they certainly will not rise in steep steps rusnok said the czech national bank has lifted its benchmark rate by 425 basis points to a 20year high of 450 since last june that has included 375 basis points worth of hikes at the last four meetings the bank the most aggressive among central european peers in tackling sharp price growth has signalled a slow down in its tightening even as inflation soared to 99 in january it sees a likely inflation peak above 10 in the coming months as surging energy bills and other factors hit households on wednesday data showed producer prices grew 194 in january their fastest in three decades which will feed into consumer inflation the central bank sees inflation slowing sharply in the second half of 2022 according to staff forecasts although rusnok said the de facto war in eastern ukraine could impact that outlook so the return to normal may be a little delayed he told czech radio reporting by jan lopatka writing by jason hovet editing by tomasz janowski