SNB ‘will not hesitate’ to tighten monetary policy further-chairman

ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank will monitor the development of inflation closely in the coming weeks ahead of its next meeting in December, Chairman Thomas Jordan said on Tuesday.

“We emphasised that price stability may not yet be ensured. Thus, we will not hesitate to tighten monetary policy further if necessary,” Jordan said at a central bank conference in Zurich.

With inflation rates lower and interest rates higher than they were a year ago, Jordan said it has become considerably more difficult to balance the risk of tightening monetary policy too much against the risk of tightening it too little.

“Given the high uncertainty regarding the economic outlook, there is no clearly mapped-out path for monetary policy in the near future,” Jordan said.

In September the SNB held its policy interest rate unchanged at 1.75%, noting that inflation has ebbed lower in Switzerland, but said a further tightening cannot be ruled out.

Swiss inflation was steady at 1.7% in October, marking the firth month in a row when it has stayed within the central bank’s target range of 0% to 2%, cementing expectations that SNB will keep its rates unchanged when it reviews policy on Dec. 14.

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