- Swiss National Bank keeps its rates steady at -0.75% in March, but it downgrades its economic growth and inflation forecasts
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Swiss National Bank keeps its rates steady at -0.75% in March, but it downgrades its economic growth and inflation forecasts
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) released its interest rate decision on Thursday. The central bank kept the rates on sight deposits at minus 0.75% and said that the bank will remain active in the forex market if needed.
The SNB noted that the Swiss franc was still significantly overvalued.
Inflation was downgraded to -0.8% in 2016 from the previous forecast of -0.5%. The central bank expects inflation to be 0.1% in 2017, down from the previous forecast of 0.3%.
The downward revision was driven by a further decline in oil prices.
The central bank noted that global economic outlook deteriorated slightly in recent months.
According to the central bank, the central bank's assessment of the global economic outlook was less favourable than in December.
The SNB said that the Swiss economy to expanded "just under" 1% in 2015. The central bank expect the Swiss economy to grow between 1% and 1.5%, down from its previous estimate of 1.5%.
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