KOF Economic Research Agency said, the economic barometer rose slightly in February. With the third increase in a row, it now lingers just above its long-​term average. Accordingly, clearly positive growth rates would be expected for the Swiss economy in the near future. However, this is based on the sentiment before the outbreak of the coronavirus in northern Italy.

The KOF Economic Barometer rose by 0.8 points in February, from 100.1 to 100.9. Economists had expected a decrease to 97.5. The normalisation towards the region of its long-​term mean, which has been observed since December 2019, has thus been confirmed. This development was primarily driven by an improvement in sentiment in the manufacturing sector. Only the indicators from the financial sector had a slightly negative impact. The other indicator groups considered in the Barometer (demand for exports, construction, hospitality, other services and domestic consumer demand) show a practically unchanged picture compared to the previous month.

It should be noted, however, that the majority of the responses to the February KOF business tendency surveys, which have the greatest weight in our barometer, were given before the spread of coronavirus infections in northern Italy became known.