is also attributable to a number of temporary factors. these include the absence of the contribution made by major international sporting events and the weather - related production losses at hydroelectric power plants. an analysis of all the available economic indicators points to momentum weakening slightly but remaining positive. the favourable development on the labour market also continued. employment increased strongly in the third quarter. the unemployment rate declined again through to november and now stands at 2. 4 %. the companies surveyed by our delegates in october and november expect staff numbers to rise in the coming months. they also report increasing difficulties in finding specialist employees. we are now anticipating slightly lower gdp growth of around 2. 5 % for 2018 as a whole. as in other countries, economic momentum in switzerland is likely to weaken somewhat in 2019. we are expecting a rise of around 1. 5 % in gdp for the coming year. overall, capacity utilisation in the swiss economy should remain high. the business representatives surveyed by our delegates are also confident about 2019. risks remain to the downside, as is the case with the global economy. in particular, a sharp slowdown internationally would quickly spread to switzerland. exchange rates, inflation expectations and interest rates let me now move on to address the monetary conditions – that is to say, exchange rates and interest rates – as well as inflation expectations. as i mentioned at the start, the swiss franc depreciated slightly in the third quarter. overall in 2018, however, it has appreciated by 3. 5 % against the currencies of our trading partners, largely driven by a weaker euro. analysis of the exchange rate situation as a whole indicates that the swiss franc remains highly valued. the real trade - weighted exchange rate, which is relevant for the economy, is still high. given the economic and political uncertainties, there is also the risk of major and sudden movements in the exchange rate, which would significantly alter monetary conditions. we therefore continue to regard the situation on the foreign exchange market as fragile. this leads me to our inflation expectations, as derived from surveys of households, companies and forecasting institutions. it is our mandate to ensure price stability while taking due account of economic developments. we equate price stability with a rise in consumer prices page 3 / 4 berne, 13 december 2018 thomas jordan news conference of less than 2 % per annum. with short - term expectations just under 1 % and longer - term expectations slightly above, inflation expectations are firmly anchored within the range consistent

to restore the situation to more normal conditions, the riksbank has offered financing at longer terms than what the markets can currently provide by lending swedish krona with maturities of three and six months. the lending is designed so that we provide liquidity in the form of somewhat longer loans and absorb the same quantity of short term liquidity. combined with the fact that lending takes place at market rates, this means that banks receive help with their strained financing situation at the same time that the measures do not have any direct effects on monetary policy. this is a very important point. the riksbank is quite simply helping the banks replace their short - term financing with longer - term financing. in a broader sense, the riksbank is assuming the role of market maker in the money market and by doing so ensuring its functioning. the other problem is that a general shortage of financing opportunities in us dollars has arisen. since the swedish banks are not counterparties with the us central bank, they cannot be certain that they will receive any of the injections of liquidity that the federal reserve makes. that is why the riksbank have offered their counterparties large loans in us dollars. together with the measures that the national debt office have taken, the riksbank's lending of both swedish krona and us dollars contribute to a general strengthening of liquidity primarily in the swedish credit markets, thereby also creating conditions for the markets to return to more normal conditions and allowing financial stability to be maintained. second of all the riksbank has – as i just mentioned – also provided special liquidity assistance to kaupthing bank sweden. this loan is against collateral and with an interest rate that is above normal lending costs. even if this measure is aimed at an individual bank, it should also be viewed as an initiative to safeguard financial stability and to maintain confidence in sweden's entire credit and payment system. the decision is based on the assessment that although the bank is solvent, it is unable to perform its obligations without liquidity assistance. what happens next with kaupthing sweden is mainly a question for the bank's owner, the icelandic state. the liquidity support to kaupthing differs in many regards from the riksbank's other measures. in this case the support is aimed at an individual institution and not at money market participants in general. in kaupthing's case the point was to enable the bank to obtain any funding whatsoever and thereby continue to exist. an important similarity