Fritz Zurbrügg: Macroprudential policy beyond the pandemic - taking stockand looking ahead

Speech by Mr Fritz Zurbrügg, Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the International Center for Monetary and Banking Studies, Geneva, 29 March 2022.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Dear Professor Panizza, Ladies and Gentleman 

Thank you, Professor Panizza, for inviting me to participate in the public lecture series organised by the International Center for Monetary and Banking Studies (ICMB) in Geneva. It is a pleasure to be here again, particularly since this is the first lecture after a two-year pandemic-related break. 

While the effects of the pandemic appear to have subsided, we are currently experiencing another tragic development. I am deeply troubled by Russia's war on Ukraine and want to express my heartfelt sympathy to the Ukrainian people. 

In my remarks this evening, I will be talking about macroprudential policy and rising challenges to financial stability, two topics that remain very relevant today.  

In recent months, policymakers in Switzerland and abroad have left the phase of accommodative macroprudential policy behind. Many jurisdictions have rolled back the easing of bank capital requirements that took place during the pandemic. Furthermore, several countries have actually taken steps to tighten macroprudential policy. What is behind this shift? The simple answer is: the economy is in a very different place today than when the pandemic started about two years ago.