Andréa M Maechler: Ten years after the crisis - evolving markets and the challenges for the Swiss National Bank

Speech by Ms Andréa M Maechler, Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, and Mr Thomas Moser, Alternate Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Money Market Event, Geneva, 8 November 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish you a warm welcome to the Swiss National Bank's Money Market Event in Geneva.

Ten years ago, back in the autumn of 2008, none of us knew when or how the crisis would end. At the time, central banks adopted a raft of measures to tackle multiple challenges in quick succession. Having exhausted the conventional monetary policy toolkit, they turned to more innovative approaches, cutting their short-term interest rates to unprecedented levels and substantially expanding their balance sheets.

Today, a decade later, the worst fears have evaporated, economic growth has returned to a robust level in many parts of the world, and some central banks have started to gradually tighten their monetary policy. For the SNB, though, it is still too early to contemplate taking such action. At our last monetary policy assessment in September, we decided to maintain our expansionary monetary policy stance. Although economic developments are favourable, inflationary pressures remain low. Moreover, the Swiss franc remains highly valued and the situation on the foreign exchange market is still fragile.