SNB’s Jordan Says Franc Haven Status Complicates Policy Setting
March 20 (Bloomberg) — Switzerland’s status among investors as safe place in times of crisis makes policy setting difficult, Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan said.
The fact that Switzerland is regarded as a “safe haven presents a big challenge for monetary policy,” Jordan said during a panel discussion at the University of Bern late yesterday. “Though we’ve made some progress, we’re far away from a full recovery” in the global economy, he said.
The SNB, which announces its quarterly monetary-policy decision at 9:30 a.m. in Zurich today, set a cap of 1.20 per euro on the Swiss franc in September 2011 to reduce the risk of deflation and a recession. According to a Bloomberg News survey, the SNB will leave the benchmark interest rate at zero and the cap unchanged. It also is set to announce new growth and inflation forecasts.
With consumer-price inflation weak, the central bank will maintain its cap on the franc at least until next year, a separate survey found.
–With assistance from Joel Rinneby in Stockholm.
To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Bosley in Zurich at cbosley1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net Zoe Schneeweiss, Jana Randow
