Swiss National Bank lowers key interest rate to 0.25%
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening:
Swiss National Bank lowers key interest rate to 0.25%
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has lowered the key interest rate by a further 25 basis points. It now stands at 0.25%.
+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
This is the fifth interest rate cut in a row. In March, June and September 2024, the SNB lowered the key interest rate by 25 basis points each time, and then by as much as 50 basis points last December.
Previously, the central bank had raised the key interest rate from -0.75% in June 2022 to 1.75% in just five steps. The reason for this was the sharp rise in inflation, which has since fallen again significantly.
Economic outlook more uncertain
With today’s interest rate hike, the SNB is ensuring that monetary conditions remain appropriate in view of the weak inflationary pressure and the increased downside risks for inflation, the SNB explained in a press release on Thursday. In addition, the economic outlook for Switzerland has become significantly more uncertain.
The SNB will now continue to monitor the situation closely. If necessary, it will adjust its monetary policy to ensure that inflation remains within the price stability range of 0-2% in the medium term. If necessary, the SNB is also prepared to remain active on the foreign exchange market.
The current decision comes as no surprise. Most economists had expected it in advance.
Translated from German by DeepL/jdp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
More
Flat-hunting in Switzerland’s cheapest and most expensive municipalities
More
Is Switzerland repeating England’s housing mistakes?
More
The Russia affair in the Swiss secret service: ‘This is espionage’
More
What a love of cat ladders says about the Swiss
More
Switzerland regains crown as world’s most competitive nation
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.