Thomas Jordan: Introductory remarks, Swiss National Bank news conference

Introductory remarks by Mr Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Media News Conference of the Swiss National Bank, Berne, 15 December 2022.

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

Ladies and gentlemen

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the news conference of the Swiss National Bank. I would also like to welcome all those who are joining us today online. After our introductory remarks, the members of the Governing Board will take questions from journalists as usual.

Monetary policy decision

I will begin with our monetary policy decision. We have decided to tighten our monetary policy further and to raise the SNB policy rate by 0.5 percentage points to 1.0%. In doing so, we are countering increased inflationary pressure and a further spread of inflation. It cannot be ruled out that additional rises in the SNB policy rate will be necessary to ensure price stability over the medium term. To provide appropriate monetary conditions, we are also willing to be active in the foreign exchange market as necessary.

The SNB policy rate change applies from tomorrow, 16 December 2022. Banks' sight deposits held at the SNB will be remunerated at the SNB policy rate of 1.0% up to a certain threshold. Sight deposits above this threshold will be remunerated at an interest rate of 0.5%, and thus still at a discount of 0.5 percentage points relative to the SNB policy rate. With this tiered remuneration of sight deposits and open market operations, we are ensuring that the secured short-term Swiss franc money market rates are close to the SNB policy rate. Andréa Maechler will examine the implementation of our monetary policy in more detail later.