Government denies inaction in financial crisis
The economics ministry has rejected accusations in the media that the Swiss government has been slow to respond to the global financial crisis.
Switzerland had acted together with the United States Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank in injecting cash to stabilise the financial markets, Economics Minister Doris Leuthard said on Tuesday.
Her comments were echoed by fellow cabinet minister Mortiz Leuenberger, who said in his blog that the cabinet had discussed the situation but did not want to add further “fuel to the fire of speculation” about the future.
Leuthard said Switzerland now needed to adopt a wait-and-see approach to the recent coordinated international action and rallying of the stock market.
She warned that the scare was not yet over and it was too early to give a prognosis on whether investor confidence had returned and credit trading would resume as normal.
The cabinet will re-examine the issue of bank guarantees and whether the situation will stabilise at its next meeting, while also looking into whether Swiss banks are suffering in comparison with European competitors.
Investors do not seem to be pulling their money from Switzerland, Leuthard added.
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