ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank kept its ultra-expansive monetary policy on hold on Thursday, bucking the trend of other central banks which have started hiking interest rates to tackle rising inflation.
The SNB kept its policy rate locked at -0.75%, as unanimously forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, as well as its commitment to conduct currency interventions to stem the rise of the safe-haven Swiss franc.
The central bank also kept its description of the franc as “highly valued”, the same wording it has deployed since September 2017, despite the currency recently hitting its highest level against the euro in seven years.
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Michael Shields)