SWISS NATIONAL BANK CHAIRMAN SAYS STILL HAS ROOM TO CUT INTEREST RATES AGAIN – The SNB charged negative interest rates for nearly 8 years from December 2014
The Swiss National Bank still has room to cut interest rates again and even take rates below 0% if Swiss inflation goes too low, Chairman Martin Schlegel said, although he could not say how likely such a step would be.
The SNB charged negative interest rates for nearly eight years from Dec. 2014 but exited the policy to tackle resurgent inflation after the COVID pandemic.
Price rises have ebbed in recent months, with Swiss inflation within the SNB’s 0-2% target range since June 2023, easing to 0.6% in January.
The SNB has responded by cutting interest rates from 1% to 0.5% in December, its biggest reduction in more than a decade, with markets expecting more cuts this year.
Schlegel said the central bank would see whether further adjustments were necessary at its next meeting in March.
“At the moment monetary conditions are appropriate, we decide from quarter to quarter and then we will see,” he said, adding he could not give a likelihood of rates going negative.
