Poland's zloty led the region in 2023 by rising nearly 8% against the euro, with the bulk of those gains coming after a broad alliance of pro-European Union parties won a majority in an October election.
That has paved the way for an improvement in relations with Brussels which had been shaken by eight years of nationalist rule.
At the same time, the Polish central bank paused an interest rate cutting cycle in the final months of 2023 and analysts expect it could stay on hold for the first half of 2024.
"Overall in 2024 I think the zloty will be strong," said Marcin Sulewski, CEE economist at Ipopema Securities.
"This will be thanks to there being no interest rate cuts in Poland and the outlook for the inflow of EU funds."
The poll forecast the zloty to rise 1.3% by the end of 2024 to 4.30 to the euro. The currency hit a similar level at the end of 2023 but has since corrected.
Warsaw had seen billions in EU funds frozen due to a dispute over the rule of law. However it has already received a 5 billion euro advance payment that was not contingent on rule-of-law conditions and now expects to receive around 18.5 billion euros in 2024.
For the crown, analysts in the poll forecast a 1.6% rise to 24.25 to the euro this year.
The currency fell to a 1-1/2 year low beyond 24.70 to end 2023 after the Czech National Bank joined Hungary and Poland in cutting interest rates. But the bank has indicated it will be cautious in loosening policy.
Jiri Polansky, an analyst at Erste Group Bank's Ceska Sporitelna unit, said while the crown will face short-term weakness, it should get a boost from slow interest rate cuts and a gradual economic recovery.
"This will be reflected in an improvement in foreign trade as well as market sentiment," he said.
Hungary's forint, meanwhile, should retreat in the next 12 months, with the median forecast expecting it at 385.40 to the euro, down 1.4% from Wednesday's closing price.
The Hungarian central bank has been most aggressive in easing its monetary policy - while it still maintains the highest base rate in the EU - and analysts say further policy loosening will weigh on the currency.
The Romanian leu is also expected to weaken about half a percent, to 5.00 to the euro in 12 months, an unchanged forecast from the previous poll in December.
Romania's central bank is not rushing to cut interest rates, but Jakub Kratky of Generali Investments CEE said "persisting imbalances and growth constraints will continue to weigh on the overall macro mix, so modest (leu) depreciation remains the base case."
(For other stories from the January Reuters foreign exchange poll:)
(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague and Alan Charlish in Warsaw; Additional polling by Mumal Rathore, Indradip Ghosh and Susobhan Sarkar; Editing by Toby Chopra)
By Jason Hovet and Alan Charlish
