Thomas Jordan, Martin Schlegel, Antoine Martin: Introductory remarks by the Governing Board, Swiss National Bank news conference

Introductory remarks by Mr Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the SNB, Mr Martin Schlegel, Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the SNB, and Mr Antoine Martin, Member of the Governing Board of the SNB, at the Media News Conference of the Swiss National Bank, Zurich, 20 June 2024.

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

Ladies and gentlemen

As Chairman of the Governing Board, 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, we will take questions from journalists as usual. Questions can also be asked by telephone.

Monetary policy decision

I will begin with our monetary policy decision. We have decided to lower the SNB policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.25%. The change applies from tomorrow, 21 June 2024. Banks' sight deposits held at the SNB will be remunerated at the SNB policy rate up to a certain threshold, and at 0.75% above this threshold. We are also willing to be active in the foreign exchange market as necessary.
The underlying inflationary pressure has decreased again compared to the previous quarter. With today's lowering of the SNB policy rate, we are able to maintain appropriate monetary conditions. We will continue to monitor the development of inflation closely, and will adjust our monetary policy if necessary to ensure inflation remains within the range consistent with price stability over the medium term.