SNB: swiss franc more strong with negative interest rates

Negative rates bring more advantages than disadvantages in the Swiss economy. With this motivation Andréa Maechler, management member of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), defends the continuation of the strategy.

"The financial markets expect a further easing of monetary policy in Britain and in the euro zone, and even in the USA the increase in interest rates goes only slowly," she said in the interview published on "SonntagsBlick" on Sunday.  SNB currently applies  -0.75% rate on deposits stored with the central bank.

"We don't have a credit crunch," she said. "We have introduced negative interest rates to maintain the interest rate differential with other countries and so reduce the overvaluation pressure on the franc." She did not even unbalanced on the strategy shift timing, considering that "The negative rates remain an exceptional measure and will be removed as soon as possible," she added, pointing out that due to the international situation, they may stay unchanged for some time.

About the option "helicopter money", Maechler swept away all possibility of introduction: "For the SNB that is a no-go," she said. "For the central bank to give money to the government is against the law."

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