can vary depending on the individual country, there is no consensus about either the extent of these measures or the institutional responsibilities. switzerland has limited its macroprudential arsenal to what is absolutely necessary and has clearly allocated responsibilities to the different authorities. in this respect, the relevant legislation has extended the snb ’ s role in financial stability in some areas but not completely changed it. i am fully convinced that this cautious approach with clear allocation of responsibilities makes sense. we are doing everything we can to fulfil this extended role as best we can, in the interests of our country ; in doing so we can draw on our wealth of experience in “ traditional ” financial stability. concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of our perusal of monetary policy and financial stability. i particularly wanted to show you which roles can and cannot be assumed by central banks and especially the snb. as regards monetary policy, our role has not changed, even if the use and the extent of monetary policy instruments have taken on new dimensions since the beginning of the crisis. in the case of financial stability, our role was extended as a result of the experiences gained in the financial crisis, although the adjustments have been much less extensive than in some other countries. the snb is not closing itself off to changes that will be necessary over the course of time. however, it is worth recalling here that central banks are not all - powerful. what remains decisive for us is that our mandate for monetary policy and financial stability is formulated in a sensible manner and can be fulfilled. however, the snb must also have the necessary instruments and be in a position to use them flexibly. in addition, it is essential that it can act independently when fulfilling its mandate. it can only take responsibility for its mandate under these conditions. this is another important reason why we are generally reserved when confronted with new tasks. a central bank which is guided by this model when fulfilling its mandate and consistently discourages excessive expectations makes the biggest contribution towards a prosperous development of the economy, thereby serving the overall interests of the country in the best manner. by fulfilling its price and financial stability mandate steadily and reliably over a bis central bankers ’ speeches longer period, a central bank builds up confidence in the general public and on the markets – confidence which is extremely important for the development of the economy. if i have succeeded in persuading you to share this conviction with me, or strengthened your belief in it, my talk this evening has achieved

6 % for 2023, and 2. 0 % for 2024 and 2025 ( cf. table 1 ). without today ’ s policy rate increase, the inflation forecast would be even higher over the medium term. uncertainty regarding price developments going forward remains high, and there is above all the risk of elevated inflation becoming embedded. global economic outlook what is the economic outlook? the global economy hardly grew in the fourth quarter. nevertheless, q4 2022 and q1 2023 will likely be slightly less weak overall than expected in december. inflation is currently clearly above central banks ’ targets in many countries. against this background, numerous central banks have tightened their monetary policy further. the growth outlook for the global economy in the coming quarters remains subdued. at the same time, inflation is likely to remain elevated worldwide for the time being. over the medium term, however, it should return to more moderate levels, not least thanks to monetary policy and due to the economic slowdown. our scenario for the global economy is subject to significant risks, in particular due to the recent turmoil in the global financial sector. swiss economic outlook i now turn to the economic outlook for switzerland. gdp stagnated in the fourth quarter. for 2022 as a whole, gdp grew by 2. 1 %. the labour market remained robust, and overall production capacity has been well utilised. page 3 / 6 zurich, 23 march 2023 thomas jordan, martin schlegel and andrea m. maechler news conference despite the slight upturn in economic activity in recent months, growth is likely to remain modest for the rest of the year. subdued demand from abroad and the loss of purchasing power due to inflation are having a dampening effect. overall, swiss gdp is likely to increase by around 1 % this year. the forecast for switzerland, as for the global economy, is subject to high uncertainty. in the short term, the main risks are an economic downturn abroad and adverse effects of the turmoil in the global financial sector. monetary policy outlook ladies and gentlemen, allow me to return to our monetary policy. inflation is currently higher than we had expected in december, and inflationary pressure has risen again also due to second - round effects. the renewed increase in our policy rate is therefore necessary to ensure that inflation returns to the range consistent with price stability over the medium term. it cannot be ruled out that a further tightening of monetary policy will be necessary to ensure price stability. for some quarters now, we have indicated