The Swiss National Bank held its interest on sight deposits at -0.75 percent during its June meeting and introduced the SNB policy rate, which will be used from now on and replaces the target range for the three-month Libor used previously. It currently stands at -0.75 percent. Policymakers said that the expansionary monetary policy remains necessary amid a "highly valued" Swiss franc and uncertainty surrounding the global economy. Meanwhile, the SNB now expects inflation for 2019 at 0.6 percent (vs 0.3 percent seen in March) and for 2020 at 0.7 percent (vs 0.6 percent seen in March). Interest Rate in Switzerland averaged 0.74 percent from 2000 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 3.50 percent in June of 2000 and a record low of -0.75 percent in January of 2015.

Interest Rate in Switzerland is expected to be -0.75 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Interest Rate in Switzerland to stand at -0.75 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Switzerland Interest Rate is projected to trend around -0.25 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.

Switzerland Interest Rate
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Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2018-09-20 07:30 AM SNB Interest Rate Decison -0.75% -0.75% -0.75% -0.75%
2018-12-13 08:30 AM SNB Interest Rate Decison -0.75% -0.75% -0.75% -0.75%
2019-03-21 08:30 AM SNB Interest Rate Decison -0.75% -0.75% -0.75% -0.75%
2019-06-13 07:30 AM SNB Interest Rate Decison -0.75% -0.75% -0.75% -0.75%
2019-09-19 07:30 AM SNB Interest Rate Decison -0.75%
2019-11-14 05:30 PM SNB Maechler Speech
2019-12-12 08:30 AM SNB Interest Rate Decison -0.75%



SNB Holds Rates, Raises Inflation Outlook

The Swiss National Bank held its interest on sight deposits at -0.75 percent during its June meeting and introduced the SNB policy rate, which will be used from now on and replaces the target range for the three-month Libor used previously. It currently stands at -0.75 percent. Policymakers said that the expansionary monetary policy remains necessary amid a "highly valued" Swiss franc and uncertainty surrounding the global economy.

Excerpt from the Swiss National Bank statement:

The Swiss National Bank is today introducing the SNB policy rate.1 From now on, it will use this rate in taking and communicating its monetary policy decisions. The SNB policy rate replaces the target range for the three-month Libor used previously, and currently stands at −0.75%. The SNB’s monetary policy thus remains as expansionary as before. Interest on sight deposits held by banks at the SNB currently corresponds to the SNB policy rate and remains at −0.75%. The SNB will seek to keep the secured short-term Swiss franc money market rates close to the SNB policy rate. SARON is the most representative short-term money market rate today, and is also establishing itself as the reference rate for financial products.

The reason for introducing the SNB policy rate is that the future of the Libor is not guaranteed. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority will only ensure that the Libor is maintained through to the end of 2021. The SNB’s conditional inflation forecast is based on the assumption that a given interest rate remains unchanged over the entire forecast horizon of three years. The three-month Libor has been used for this purpose to date. Given that the current forecast for the first time extends beyond the end of 2021, the introduction of the SNB policy rate ensures that it will be based on the same interest rate over the entire horizon.

The SNB’s expansionary monetary policy remains necessary against the backdrop of the current price and economic developments. On a trade-weighted basis, the Swiss franc is somewhat stronger than in March and is still highly valued. The situation on the foreign exchange market continues to be fragile. The negative interest rate and the SNB’s willingness to intervene in the foreign exchange market as necessary remain essential in order to keep the attractiveness of Swiss franc investments low and thus ease pressure on the currency.

The new conditional inflation forecast for the coming quarters is slightly higher than in March. This is primarily attributable to a rise in the prices of imported goods. The longer-term inflation forecast is virtually unchanged. For 2019 it stands at 0.6%, up from the figure of 0.3% last quarter. For 2020, the SNB anticipates an inflation rate of 0.7%, compared to 0.6% last quarter. The forecast for 2021 is 1.1%, 0.1 of a percentage point lower than last quarter. The conditional inflation forecast is based on the assumption that the SNB policy rate remains at –0.75% over the entire forecast horizon.

The Swiss economy also gathered momentum at the beginning of the year. According to the initial estimate, GDP grew by 2.3% in the first quarter. Labour market developments were also positive. Production capacity in Switzerland was well utilised overall. The economic indicators point towards momentum remaining favourable. Against this backdrop, the SNB continues to expect the economy to grow by around 1.5% in 2019. As is the case with the global economy, the risks for this scenario remain to the downside. In particular, an unexpectedly sharp slowdown internationally would quickly spread to Switzerland.


Joana Ferreira | joana.ferreira@tradingeconomics.com
6/13/2019 7:51:14 AM


News

Switzerland Keeps Rates Steady, Lowers Inflation Forecasts
The Swiss National Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at -0.75 percent on March 21st 2019, in line with market expectations, saying the Swiss franc is still highly valued, and the situation on the foreign exchange market continues to be fragile. Policymakers also lowered inflation forecasts for 2019 to 0.3 percent from 0.5 percent and for 2020 to 0.6 percent from 1 percent.
Published on 2019-03-21

Switzerland Holds Policy Rate at -0.75%
The Swiss National Bank held its benchmark interest rate at -0.75 percent on December 13th, as widely expected, saying the franc is still highly valued and the situation on the foreign exchange market continues to be fragile while GDP growth is likely to weaken somewhat in 2019 amid global political uncertainties and protectionist tendencies.
Published on 2018-12-13

Swiss Holds Interest Rate Steady at -0.75%
The Swiss National Bank kept its benchmark three-month Libor unchanged at -0.75 percent on September 20th 2018, in line with market expectations. The central bank said the Swiss franc is highly valued and confirmed it will continue to intervene in foreign exchange markets. Policymakers also lowered inflation forecasts for 2019 to 0.8 percent from 0.9 percent and for 2020 to 1.2 percent from 1.6 percent. Inflation forecast for 2018 was left at 0.9 percent. GDP growth for the current year was revised higher to 2.5-3 percent from 2 percent.
Published on 2018-09-20

Switzerland Keeps Rates Steady
The Swiss National Bank left its benchmark three-month Libor at -0.75 percent on June 21st, 2018, in line with market expectations. Policymakers continued to say the Swiss franc remains too strong and revised higher inflation forecasts for 2018.
Published on 2018-06-21



Switzerland Money Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit
Interest Rate -0.75 -0.75 3.50 -0.75 percent [+]
Interbank Rate -0.75 -0.75 10.00 -0.96 percent [+]
Money Supply M0 546472.00 562252.00 570920.00 5475.00 CHF Million [+]
Money Supply M1 682520.00 678331.00 682520.00 89321.00 CHF Million [+]
Money Supply M2 1030195.00 1025661.00 1030195.00 198227.00 CHF Million [+]
Money Supply M3 1079320.00 1075879.00 1079320.00 252820.00 CHF Million [+]
Foreign Exchange Reserves 759075.00 759111.00 771992.30 42137.60 CHF Million [+]
Banks Balance Sheet 2022132.64 2013954.24 2023736.83 595832.00 CHF Million [+]
Loans to Private Sector 1494624.00 1470339.00 1494624.00 348012.00 CHF Million [+]
Deposit Interest Rate -0.31 -0.31 9.75 -0.34 percent [+]
Private Debt to GDP 246.62 237.09 246.62 182.56 percent [+]
Central Bank Balance Sheet 829995.12 842894.40 843306.37 68322.20 CHF Million [+]


Switzerland Interest Rate

The SNB implements its monetary policy by fixing a target range for the reference interest rate, the Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) for three-month interbank loans in Swiss francs. The target range normally has a bandwidth of 100 basis points (one percentage point) and, as a rule, the SNB holds the Libor in the middle of the defined range. As interest rates increasingly approached zero in the wake of the financial crisis, the Libor target range was narrowed. From 6 September 2011 to 15 January 2015, the main focus of implementation was on the minimum exchange rate of CHF 1.20 per euro, which the SNB enforced during this period. On 18 December 2014, the SNB decided to impose an interest rate of -0.25% on sight deposit account balances. With the announcement of a negative interest rate, the target range for the Libor was taken into negative territory for the first time, and extended to its usual width of 1 percentage point. On 15 January 2015, the SNB lowered the interest rate on sight deposits to -0.75% and moved the target range downwards to between -1.25% and -0.25%. Negative interest has applied since 22 January 2015. This page provides - Switzerland Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Switzerland Interest Rate - actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on July of 2019.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
-0.75 -0.75 3.50 -0.75 2000 - 2019 percent Daily




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Saudi Arabia 3.00 Jun/19
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Canada 1.75 Jul/19
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Australia 1.00 Jul/19
United Kingdom 0.75 Jun/19
Euro Area 0.00 Jun/19
France 0.00 Jun/19
Germany 0.00 Jun/19
Italy 0.00 Jun/19
Netherlands 0.00 Jun/19
Spain 0.00 Jun/19
Japan -0.10 Jun/19
Switzerland -0.75 Jun/19


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