the assumption that the snb policy rate is 1. 25 % over the entire forecast horizon. without today ’ s rate cut, the forecast would have been lower. global economic outlook let me now turn to the global economic outlook. global economic growth was solid in the first quarter of 2024. in europe, the economy gained momentum somewhat following the stagnation of previous quarters. in the us, economic activity remained robust despite a slowdown in growth. inflation largely moved sideways over the past months, and remained above central banks ’ targets in many countries. however, the underlying inflationary pressure continued to page 2 / 6 zurich, 20 june 2024 thomas jordan, martin schlegel and antoine martin news conference decrease slightly. against this background, some central banks eased their monetary policy for the first time following the tightening cycle of the past two years. however, monetary policy remains restrictive in many countries. inflationary pressure abroad is likely to continue to ease gradually over the next quarters. at the same time, the global economy is likely to pick up somewhat. consumers ’ purchasing power should gradually recover and the dampening effect of the monetary policy tightening should ease slowly. however, for the coming quarters we expect only moderate growth in global economic activity by longer - term comparison. our scenario for the global economy is still subject to significant risks. inflation could remain elevated for longer in some countries, necessitating a tighter monetary policy there than expected in our baseline scenario. equally, a renewed increase in geopolitical tensions could result in weaker development of global economic activity. swiss economic outlook how does the economic situation look in switzerland? gdp growth was moderate in the first quarter of 2024. the services sector continued to expand, while value added in manufacturing stagnated. this stagnation was above all attributable to the subdued momentum in the manufacturing sector globally. there was a further slight increase in unemployment. the utilisation of overall production capacity was normal. growth is likely to remain moderate in switzerland in the coming quarters. we anticipate gdp growth of around 1 % this year. in this environment, unemployment is likely to continue to rise slightly, and the utilisation of production capacity is set to decline slightly. over the medium term, economic activity should improve gradually, supported by somewhat stronger demand from abroad. we currently expect growth of around 1. 5 % for 2025. our forecast for switzerland, as for the global economy, is subject to significant uncertainty. developments abroad represent the

with the rise in interest rates, growth in mortgage lending has declined and price momentum on the real estate market slowed. at the same time, however, mortgage affordability risks persist. moreover, the vulnerability of the real estate market to price corrections remains elevated. third, last year ’ s bank crises highlighted liquidity risks. even when banks have large liquidity buffers, they can still face substantial liquidity risks due to their short - term funding. banks finance themselves largely through deposits, which can be rapidly withdrawn. regulations should provide incentives for longer - term funding. in addition, banks should prepare more collateral for obtaining liquidity assistance. more stable funding and better preparation for obtaining liquidity strengthen the resilience of the banking sector. and finally, let me turn to operational risks in the financial system. banks and financial market infrastructures are increasingly exposed to cyber risks. moreover, a rise in the outsourcing of functions to third - party providers can lead to banks becoming more dependent on unregulated providers. it is important that financial market participants adequately manage their operational risks. i will now hand over to antoine martin. page 4 / 6 zurich, 20 june 2024 thomas jordan, martin schlegel and antoine martin news conference continuation and expansion of project helvetia pilot i would now like to give you some news about the snb ’ s project helvetia iii. as you know, since 1 december 2023, the snb has been providing wholesale central bank digital currency ( wholesale cbdc ) as part of this innovative project. it issues this wholesale cbdc on the regulated six digital exchange ( sdx ), which uses distributed ledger technology. digital ( token - based ) swiss franc bond transactions can thus be settled in central bank money directly on sdx. with project helvetia iii, the snb is playing a globally leading role in deploying wholesale cbdc in a live production environment. six banks are participating in the current project helvetia iii pilot : banque cantonale vaudoise, basler kantonalbank, commerzbank, hypothekarbank lenzburg, ubs and zurcher kantonalbank. these banks have to date settled six digital bond issuances. the cantons of basel - stadt and zurich, the cities of lugano and st gallen, as well as ubs and the world bank have each issued a bond on sdx as part of the pilot project