SNB Repeats Intervention Threat With Inflation Stuck Near Zero
(Bloomberg) — Swiss National Bank Vice-President Antoine Martin said the central bank’s willingness to intervene to stem gains in the franc has risen amid fallout in global markets from the US war in Iran.
Martin was speaking shortly after data showed Swiss inflation stuck near zero in February. The rate hasn’t been higher than 0.3% in a year, and the SNB is facing the risk that the strengthening of the franc will keep depressing prices.
“Our willingness to intervene, our readiness to intervene, is higher given the recent political event,” Martin said at a press conference on new Swiss banknotes. The remarks reiterated a surprise statement earlier in the week in which the SNB threatened currency interventions. Martin didn’t comment further on the exchange rate.
The strength of the currency and the weak inflation readings are a challenge for the central bank, which is trying to avoid reintroducing negative interest rates. Its benchmark has been at zero since last summer.
The February inflation reading was the last before the SNB’s quarterly policy decision on March 19.
The backdrop to the meeting has shifted dramatically in recent days given the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. At the SNB, alarm about the impact of the turmoil on the haven franc prompted them to issue the unsolicited threat of market intervention.
The franc will remain a key input for officials as its strength reduces import costs. Since the start of the year, the currency has rallied to repeated decade highs against the euro. It breached the mark of 0.91 francs per euro last week, surging further on Monday before the SNB issued its intervention remarks.
The SNB has predicted that inflation will average just 0.3% in 2026. President Martin Schlegel has repeatedly said that negative readings for consumer-price changes are possible in some months, though such outcomes wouldn’t be a cause for immediate worry.
Officials insist that there remains a substantially higher bar to cutting rates into negative territory compared with a conventional reduction. Most economists don’t expect the SNB to move for the rest of this year.
The statistics office report also showed that a measure of underlying inflation slowed to 0.4%, the lowest since November.
(Updates with intervention comments starting in first paragraph)
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
