implied cpi path consistent with the 2 % inflation target last observation : december 2021 this surge in inflation has been more persistent than anticipated. part of it reflects a catch - up in prices after inflation dropped in 2020 ( chart 3, panel b ). it also reflects the impacts of both supply constraints and strong demand in global markets — especially for goods. we now expect that inflation will remain close to 5 % through the first half of this year. the initial policy response so now that we ’ ve talked about our journey over the last two years, let ’ s turn our attention to the policy response in those early days of the crisis. the sheer scale and complexity of this pandemic was beyond what anyone anticipated. how did the bank navigate its course? once the virus spread across the world and the first lockdowns were implemented, we clearly understood that the economic and financial impacts would be serious. just how serious was still quite uncertain. but we knew that the situation called for extremely aggressive policy responses, right from the start. our thinking was that it was better to do too much up front to strongly support the recovery than to play catch - up later. when the pandemic first hit, the top priority was to support canadian households and businesses. in addition to helping those most directly affected, our goal was to prevent second - round effects on other sectors of the economy — notably the impacts that can occur when those who have lost income cut back their spending. we were also worried about businesses delaying investments. a second problem we needed to tackle right away was the breakdown of financial markets. in an atmosphere of panic, asset values plummeted and we saw a generalized dash for cash. market liquidity suddenly evaporated — in other words, sellers had difficulty finding buyers, even for safe assets such as government bonds. this dynamic threatened to block the flow of credit for households and businesses just when they needed it most. the bank responded swiftly and aggressively to restore calm to financial markets. we provided liquidity to the financial system through several channels, including repurchase agreements and direct asset purchases in a range of financial markets. these actions, alongside similar measures taken by central banks in other countries, quickly restored market functioning worldwide. it was clear that the federal government ’ s fiscal policy would need to take primary responsibility for supporting households and businesses, because it could focus that support to manage the uneven impacts of the pandemic. many canadians who had the option of working remotely stayed employed. meanwhile, many

news conference berne, 15 june 2017 thomas jordan introductory remarks by thomas jordan ladies and gentlemen it is a pleasure for me to welcome you to the swiss national bank ’ s news conference. i will begin by explaining our monetary policy decision and our assessment of the economic situation. i will then hand over to fritz zurbrugg, who will present this year ’ s financial stability report. after that, andrea maechler will review developments on the financial markets. finally, we will – as ever – be pleased to take your questions. monetary policy decision let me begin with our monetary policy decision and the inflation forecast. we are maintaining our expansionary monetary policy, with the aim of stabilising price developments and supporting economic activity. interest on sight deposits at the snb is to remain at – 0. 75 % and the target range for the three - month libor is unchanged at between – 1. 25 % and – 0. 25 %. we will remain active in the foreign exchange market as necessary, while taking the overall currency situation into consideration. the negative interest rate and our willingness to intervene in the foreign exchange market are intended to make swiss franc investments less attractive, thereby easing pressure on the currency. the swiss franc is still significantly overvalued. the new conditional inflation forecast differs little from that of march. we continue to anticipate an inflation rate of 0. 3 % for the current year. for 2018, the forecast has fallen slightly to 0. 3 %, from 0. 4 % in the previous quarter. for 2019, we now expect inflation of page 1 / 4 berne, 15 june 2017 thomas jordan news conference 1. 0 %, compared to 1. 1 % last quarter. the conditional inflation forecast is based on the assumption that the three - month libor remains at – 0. 75 % over the entire forecast horizon. global economic outlook i would now like to turn to economic developments abroad, as these have a considerable bearing on the inflation and economic outlook in switzerland. in line with our expectations, the global economy has strengthened further in recent months. global gdp growth in the first quarter was more robust than in previous quarters. this is due in large part to an encouraging upturn in emerging economies. in the euro area, too, economic recovery has gained strength. owing to the stronger economic growth, the labour market situation in advanced economies has improved further ; with full employment now almost reached in the us, japan, the uk and germany. across the