SNB to raise interest rates in March following a hike planned this week

A Bloomberg survey suggests that the Swiss National Bank is set to carry out another interest-rate hike in March, coming on the heels of a rise scheduled for this week. 

Backed by the median forecast, the country's central bank is expected to push interest rates higher by 50 basis points to 1% this week. This is still lower than experts' previous estimates, suggesting a 75-basis-point hike. Then a further rate rise of 0.5% seems to be in sight. This hike is going to take place at the regulator's next meeting in March, as reported in a survey conducted from December 2 to 8.  

The National Bank of Switzerland, headed by Chairman Thomas Jordan, is likely to keep interest rates unchanged after two consecutive hikes. Thus, borrowing costs may decline only in the first quarter of 2024. 

The Swiss central bank made its monetary policy tighter, raising rates by 125 basis points over 2022. The indicator turned out to be lower than the total rate hikes carried out by other regulators. For instance, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced rate increases of 200 basis points during this year. The Bank of England, in turn, revised up the rate by 275 basis points. This is due to the Swiss inflation rate having reached its peak of 3% in the past 30 years, but still being the lowest among the OECD countries.