UPDATE 3-Less vocal Swiss central bank still set for loose policy
John Revill, Silke Koltrowitz, 25 March 2021
ZURICH, March 25 (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank toned down its verbal commitment to foreign currency interventions and raised its inflation outlook on Thursday, but chairman Thomas Jordan said this did not mean the bank would quit its ultra-expansive policy.
The central bank kept its benchmark interest rate locked at minus 0.75% as forecast by all economists in a Reuters poll, reiterating its commitment to a policy in place since 2015, spearheaded by the world’s deepest negative rate.
This was despite the franc losing 3% of its value versus the euro this year as safe-haven inflows eased.
The SNB said it remained committed to currency interventions, albeit using less forceful language than in December, when it said it was willing to intervene “more strongly” in the forex markets. On Thursday it said only that it would intervene “as necessary”.
Jordan said that he welcomed the depreciation of the franc, which remained “highly valued” but that the change in the bank’s choice of wording was “no signaling at all for a change of monetary policy for the time being”.
