Charlotte de Montpellier, economist at ING, points out that the Swiss National Bank maintained its ultra-accommodative monetary policy unchanged, with the interest rate on sight deposits remaining fixed at -0.75%, and the three-month Libor target range at -1.25% to -0.25%.
Key Quotes
“It also indicates that it will continue to intervene as needed in the foreign exchange market. It still considers that the Swiss franc is “highly valued” even though the currency has depreciated slightly in value weighted by foreign trade. This is due to the strengthening of the dollar, while the franc hasn’t changed much, remaining at a high level against the euro.”
“The central bank believes that the decline in GDP in Q3 is mainly due to temporary factors such as the interruption of the production of power plants due to climatic conditions, no sporting event etc. and that the momentum has certainly slightly eased but remains favourable, especially thanks to the job market which is doing very well. It forecasts growth of 2.5% in 2018 and 1.5% in 2019 and also explained the risks are tilted downwards.”
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