bank. that means we say, we announce to everybody that we target inflation rates so that they stay within 2. 0 percent and 4. 0 percent. that is a big help. because of those targets, we are able to anchor expectations. otherwise, expectations may get out of control, and you get very large second - round effects. by being able to anchor inflation expectations, we are able to manage the secondround effects. so, that is our strategy. that is monetary policy strategy in what we call a " supply - shock economy. " so, that seems to be working. on friday, the next inflation number will come out, and we are crossing our fingers that it will be a good number. but that is where we are. by the way, people say that we are tightening too much. that is a very difficult challenge because we want to make sure that we do not tighten unnecessarily. we do not want to cause a loss of output that is not necessary. 2 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches sometimes, we make a mistake, and we tighten too much. but even when we make a mistake and we tighten too much, the loss of output tends to be temporary. so far, i think, we have been okay. we have been doing just the right amount of tightening. if you look at our gdp [ gross domestic product ] growth in 2023, [ it is ] 5. 5 percent. that does not look so high compared to 2021 for example. but 5. 5 percent is the highest growth rate within the fastest - growing region, southeast asia. china is doing 5. 2 [ percent ], and we are doing 5. 5 [ percent ]. so, that is not so bad. there are more jobs with that kind of growth rate. the unemployment rate is down to 4. 2 percent. the underemployment rate is down to 11 percent ; it used to be 14 percent. so, in terms of growth, in terms of employment, we seem to be managing reasonably well in the face of supply shock. strong banking system the banking system, i think, is in good shape unlike in previous crises. many of us remember in the 1980s, our banking system got into trouble in the 1980s along with latin american countries. in fact, we call that the latin american debt crisis. we were part of it. and so, when we tried to recover around 1989 from the latin american debt crisis, the

jean - pierre roth : are we still on the growth track? summary of a speech by mr jean - pierre roth, chairman of the governing board of the swiss national bank, at the general meeting of the schaffhausen regional association of industry and commerce, stein am rhein, 18 march 2005. the complete speech can be found in german on the swiss national banka€™s website ( www. snb. ch ). * * * after the economic downturn witnessed in the second half of 2004 and at the beginning of 2005, the question arises whether switzerland will remain on the growth track. jean - pierre roth believes it is and anticipates gdp growth to be in the range of 1. 5 % this year. owing to the favourable international economic situation, the economy in europe is likely to pick up again, which will also benefit the swiss export industry. at the same time, we can assume that domestic demand will continue to grow at a moderate pace. the decline in important economic data during the last few months, however, suggests that economic growth in the first half of 2005 will remain weak. this notwithstanding, involves the risk of declining corporate and consumer confidence, which in turn would jeopardise economic development. it is also doubtful whether the weak dollar and high oil prices have already had their full impact or whether it is yet to unfold. based on such considerations, the national bank decided to leave the three - month libor rate at 0. 75 % in mid - march. it was a relatively easy decision to make for the governing board in that inflation prospects over the entire three - year forecasting period have improved. consequently, an interest rate hike became less critical, and there was greater leeway to support economic recovery with an expansionary monetary policy. as soon as the recovery process is again under way, the national bank will continue the normalisation of monetary policy. this is the only way of ensuring price stability in the medium term and preventing the economy from overheating.