Two thirds of economists polled by Reuters had anticipated the SNB would decide in favor of a 25-basis-point-cut to 1.25%.
The country's inflation flatlined at 1.4% in May after a bump up in April and is expected to average the same level across full-year 2024, according to the SNB's latest projections. A view of the headquarters of the Swiss National Bank , before a press conference in Zurich, Switzerland, March 21, 2024.The Swiss National Bank on Thursday trimmed its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%, continuing cuts at a time when sentiment over monetary policy easing remains mixed among major economies.. The Swiss central bank expects the national GDP, adjusted for sporting events, to hit 1.2% this year.
In a June 14 note, analysts at Nomura had characterized a likely cut as a "finely balanced decision" and signaled that "underlying inflation momentum has remained weak which is likely to increase the SNB's confidence that inflation will converge to the mid-point of its inflation target." Switzerland already has the second-lowest interest rate of the Group of Ten democracies by a wide margin, following Japan. It became theBut the U.S. Federal Reserve has yet to blink, and market participants will be following later in the Thursday session to see