SNB’s Schlegel: Can’t rule out negative rates, nothing is off the table

Newly-minted Chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) Martin Schlegel hit newswires on Tuesday, cautioning that further rate cuts haven’t been ruled out. The incoming Chairman of the SNB officially took the reins of Switzerland’s central bank on early Tuesday, and has inherited a central bank still caught in the wake of last year’s lopsided management of the merger between 167-year-old Credit Suisse and UBS.

Key highlights

The services sector is solid and the industrial sector subdued.

I expect Swiss growth to be subdued in coming quarters.

The biggest risk for Swiss economy is developments abroad.

Last week we did not rule out further interest rate cuts.

We cannot rule out negative rates at the moment, we rule nothing out.

Reason for last week’s rate cut was reduced inflationary pressure.

Without interest rate cut, inflation forecasts would have been slower.

Main problem for Swiss exporters is lower demand abroad.