Swiss National Bank chairman warns of ‘great insecurity’ caused by US tariffs

SNB Chairman speaks of "very great insecurity Keystone-SDA

The president of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), Martin Schlegel, has warned of the huge financial uncertainties caused by recent US tariffs.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

“We think that growth will slow down, but we do not foresee a recession in Switzerland,” Schlegel told the Swiss Media Forum in Lucerne on Friday.

He pointed out that the increase in customs duties could penalise Swiss products because they become more expensive in the US, but also because other countries could benefit from more advantageous conditions than Swiss exporters.

‘We are not manipulators’

Asked about the possible introduction of negative interest rates in Switzerland, Schlegel said no instrument could be ruled out.

Nobody likes negative interest rates, including the SNB, but it is not out of the question that the institution might have to use them again, he commented. This would complicate the work of pension funds in particular, which would find it more difficult to achieve their targets, he said.

Schlegel once again dismissed US accusations of currency manipulation against Switzerland. The SNB does not intervene to gain an unfair competitive advantage for the Swiss economy, but only to fulfil its mandate of ensuring price stability, he said.

This means intervening to limit the strengthening of the franc, insisted Schlegel, who was appointed to the post just over seven months ago.

SNB officials have always maintained good dialogue with their US technical counterparts on this issue, and the Swiss position has been understood, said Schlegel. But he said that he did not know whether this view was shared by the new US president, Donald Trump.

Translated from German by DeepL/sb

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

Did you find this explanation helpful? Please fill out the short survey below to help us understand your needs.