National Bank of Switzerland refused to make forecasts for inflation
2023.01.24 13:10
National Bank of Switzerland refused to make forecasts for inflation
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – Despite the anticipated slowdown in price increases, Swiss National Bank Vice Chairman Martin Schlegel stated on Tuesday that it was still too early to give the “all-clear” regarding inflation in the country.
He stated at a Zurich event, “We cannot rule out further interest increases at present,” despite forecasts that Swiss inflation will fall to 2.4% in 2023 and 1.8% in 2024.
Despite being low by international standards, Swiss inflation reached 2.8% last year, exceeding the SNB’s price stability goal of 2% per year.
According to Schlegel, “the SNB has absolute priority for the maintenance of price stability.”
After the central bank raised its policy rate three times in 2022, his remarks may be interpreted as paving the way for additional interest rate hikes by the SNB.
Last week, Chairman Thomas Jordan stated that Swiss inflation remained excessive. This is yet another possible indication that the Swiss National Bank (SNB) may decide to raise interest rates from their current level of 1%, a move that many analysts anticipate.
This week, Credit Suisse economists raised their expectations for an SNB rate hike. They now expect rates to rise to 1.5% in March, up from their previous estimate of 1.25 percent, and to 1.75 percent in June.
