"New geo-political risks have emerged and international economic data, particularly from Europe and South America, has been weaker than we expected. The situation for Switzerland has clearly worsened."
- Chairman, Swiss National Bank
Economic confidence in Switzerland declined considerably in September, falling into the negative territory for the first time since the beginning of this year. The ZEW Institute, which calculates the same indicators for Germany and Switzerland, put the latter one at minus 7.7 points this month, while just a month ago it stood at 2.5 points. The positive mark indicates a positive outlook for economy among survey participants, while the negative points on a possible fall in economic activity in the future. At the same time, the similar index from the KOF Swiss Economic Institute rose in August, meaning that the sentiment can be mixed and unclear at the moment. Besides that, an opinion on current condition of Switzerland's economy dropped to 25.6 points in September, down from 45 points in August. On the other hand, 44% of economists predict the economy to advance within 1.5%-2% range in 2014, while the Swiss National Bank may cut its forecast soon.
Experts see increasing risks for Swiss economy amid international political issues with Russia and mutual sanctions. Switzerland, however, was one of the last countries to impose economic sanctions on Russia, as analysts broadly expected this country to keep the status-quo. The weakness may come from the Eurozone and particularly Germany, the main Swiss economic partner, and it can have a negative impact on GDP growth in the country.
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