ZURICH, March 12 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank is
pulling out all the stops to bring Swiss inflation under
control, Chairman Thomas Jordan has told newspaper
SonntagsBlick, hinting at further rate hikes ahead.
"At the moment inflation is too high in our country and we
are doing everything we can to bring it back into the area of
price stability," Jordan told the newspaper in an interview
published on Sunday.
"Price stability is our main task. We define that
conservatively as inflation of less than 2%," he added.
Jordan's comments will be his last before the SNB announces
its next policy decision on March 23.
Last week the central banker said the SNB could not rule out
further interest rate hikes to tackle inflation which ticked
higher to 3.4% in February.
The SNB has already raised rates three times in the last
nine months, but more increases are expected from the current
level of 1%.
Markets are currently giving a 76% probability that the
central bank will raise its policy rate by 50 basis points, and
a 24% probability for a 75 basis-point hike.
Jordan, who was answering readers' questions, said he
expected a slowdown in the Swiss economy this year, but did not
see a recession.
"The SNB's greatest contribution to society is a good
monetary policy, because stable prices help everyone," he told
the paper.
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Messaging: john.revill.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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