Swiss Central Bank Official: Negative Rates to Resume if Needed, AI May Push Inflation Higher in Short Term

Petra Tschudin, a member of the Swiss National Bank's policy committee, stated that if necessary, the SNB will reintroduce negative interest rates to keep inflation within its 0% to 2% target range, marking the most direct signal yet of a return to negative rates. The current benchmark rate in Switzerland stands at zero, with July inflation at just 0.4%. She also noted that large-scale AI investment could push prices higher in the short term due to chip shortages, but its long-term effect of lowering inflation remains uncertain.