Swiss National Bank leaves rates unchanged

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) held its policy interest rate unchanged at 1.75% on Thursday, against analyst expectations for a quarter point increase. However, future increases cannot be ruled out if necessary, the SNB said. In Switzerland, five consecutive interest rate hikes totalling 250 basis points have helped drive inflation down from last year's peak of 3.5% and keep it within the central bank's 0%-2% target for the past three months. + Five questions about the price watchdog's inflation warnings In recent months, inflation has continued to slow in Switzerland. In August, it stood at 1.6%. The decline is mainly due to a decline in the price of imported goods and services. The SNB says it remains ready to be active on the foreign exchange market to ensure appropriate monetary conditions. In the current context, this mainly concerns the sale of currencies. How we work This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI...