Furthermore, the SNB is obliged to give full account of its actions. This serves to make its decisions readily understandable for the general public, and to show whether and to what extent the targets have been met. The phrase ‘the overall interests of the country’ means that monetary policy is to be focused on the economy as a whole, rather than individual interests. It does not provide a basis for pursuing other objectives with monetary policy, even if the desired goals – as in the case of climate protection – are right and important for society. The SNB will remain committed to maintaining the current institutional framework in the future. Price stability is the most important contribution monetary policy can make with regard to growth and prosperity. This can also be seen in the current situation. High inflation has quickly pushed other important problems down the list of societal and political priorities. Ensuring price stability is thus also a prerequisite for successfully tackling other challenges facing society. Page 11/16  V. Concluding remarks The environment in which we conduct our monetary policy has changed. In recent years we have been concerned about inflation being too low; now we are concerned about it being too high. In this difficult and changing environment, a narrow mandate and a definition of price stability that anchors inflation expectations at a low level while at the same time allowing a certain amount of leeway with regard to the accepted level of inflation are important factors for a successful monetary policy.

And doing so would not even help address the various issues in any case. I see three main reasons to support this view. First, central banks do not have effective instruments for successfully pursuing structural policy objectives such as tackling climate change over the long term. Their tools are designed to influence factors relevant for monetary policy, such as interest rates and exchange rates. By contrast, the influence of our investment policy on the global financing conditions for ‘green’ or ‘brown’ companies over the long term, for example, is low. While buying green investments may increase their price, when we sell the corresponding securities for monetary policy reasons, their market price will decline again. When it comes to inequality, again central banks do not have the instruments to bring about lasting change beyond the positive impact of a stability-oriented monetary policy. An expansionary monetary policy may mitigate income inequality in the short term in that it provides support to low-income households in particular or promotes the creation of jobs in the low-wage sector. However, an expansionary monetary policy also stimulates asset prices, which then tends to exacerbate wealth inequality. The biggest problem for the more vulnerable sections of society that central banks can influence is inflation. Concentrating on price stability thus inherently constitutes the greatest contribution a central bank can make to social cohesion. While central banks do not have effective instruments for achieving structural policy objectives, other state institutions do, for example in the form of fiscal policy and regulatory measures.