news conference embargo 21 march 2024, 10. 00 am introductory remarks by the governing board thomas jordan, martin schlegel and antoine martin chairman of the governing board / vice chairman of the governing board / member of the governing board swiss national bank zurich, 21 march 2024 © swiss national bank page 1 / 6 zurich, 21 march 2024 thomas jordan, martin schlegel and antoine martin news conference ladies and gentlemen as chairman of the governing board, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the news conference of the swiss national bank. i would also like to welcome all those who are joining us today online. i extend a special welcome to antoine martin. this is his first press conference as a member of the governing board. after our introductory remarks, we will take questions from journalists as usual. questions can also be asked by telephone. monetary policy decision i will begin with our monetary policy decision. we have decided to lower the snb policy rate by 0. 25 percentage points to 1. 5 %. the change applies from tomorrow, 22 march 2024. banks ’ sight deposits held at the snb will be remunerated at the snb policy rate up to a certain threshold, and at 1. 0 % above this threshold. we also remain willing to be active in the foreign exchange market as necessary. the easing of our monetary policy has been made possible because the fight against inflation over the past two and a half years has been effective. for some months now, inflation has been back below 2 % and thus in the range we equate with price stability. according to our new forecast, inflation is also likely to remain in this range over the next few years. with our decision, we are taking into account the reduced inflationary pressure as well as the appreciation of the swiss franc in real terms over the past year. the policy rate cut also supports economic activity. today ’ s easing thus ensures that monetary conditions remain appropriate. we will continue to monitor the development of inflation closely. we will adjust our monetary policy again if necessary to ensure inflation remains within the range consistent with price stability over the medium term. inflation forecast allow me to address the development of inflation. inflation has declined further since the beginning of the year, and stood at 1. 2 % in february. this decrease was attributable to lower goods inflation. inflation is currently being driven above all by higher prices for domestic services. our new conditional inflation forecast is significantly lower than that of december

. in the short term, this is above all due to the fact that price momentum in the case of some categories of goods has slowed more quickly than had been expected in december. in the medium term, lower second - round effects are leading to a downward revision. over the entire forecast horizon, the conditional inflation forecast is within the range of price stability ( cf. chart ). the forecast puts average annual inflation at 1. 4 % for 2024, 1. 2 % for 2025 and 1. 1 % for 2026 ( cf. table ). our forecast is based on the assumption that the snb policy rate is 1. 5 % over the entire forecast horizon. page 2 / 6 zurich, 21 march 2024 thomas jordan, martin schlegel and antoine martin news conference global economic outlook let me now turn to the global economic outlook. the global economy grew moderately in the fourth quarter of 2023. however, developments continued to vary greatly between the individual economic areas. the us economy again showed robust growth, while activity was modest in many other countries. having declined rapidly in many countries in 2023, inflation has decreased at a somewhat slower pace in recent months. inflation in many countries remains above central banks ’ targets. against this background, many central banks have left their restrictive monetary policy unchanged for the time being. global economic growth is likely to remain moderate in the coming quarters, in particular due to the tightening of monetary policy in the last two years and less expansionary fiscal policy. inflation is likely to decline further, not least due to the restrictive monetary policy. 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, geopolitical tensions could increase. it therefore cannot be ruled out that global economic activity will be weaker than assumed. swiss economic outlook how does the economic situation look in switzerland? gdp growth was moderate in the fourth quarter of last year. the services sector expanded again, while value added in manufacturing stagnated. this was above all attributable to the subdued momentum in the manufacturing sector globally, but especially in germany. unemployment rose somewhat further, and the utilisation of overall production capacity was normal. growth is likely to remain modest in the coming quarters. the weak demand from abroad and the appreciation of the swiss franc in real terms over the past year are having a dampening effect. overall, switzerland