"It will remain as it is for the time being. The Swiss National Bank is in the comfort zone, given the weak inflation rate in the euro area. That speaks for a stronger franc."
- Cornelia Luchsinger, an economist at Zuercher Kantonalbank
The SNB was not busy during the last year, as the pressure on the Swiss Franc eased amid economic recovery in the neighbouring Eurozone. Moreover, the latest projections are speaking in favour of stronger Swiss economy in 2014. Currently, the government projects a 2.3% for 2014 and a 2.7% growth in 2015. These forecasts and bold statements from Swiss authorities raised speculations the cap on the Swiss Franc will be removed soon. In November, a poll conducted by Bloomberg showed that 64% of economists expect the Swiss National Bank to remove the cap after the first quarter of 2015.
The latest poll, however, suggests completely different actions from the SNB. Seven out of 20 economists predict the cap of 1.20 franc per Euro will be revised up in 2015, while the same number of specialists believe it will happen only in 2016. Just three experts said the ceiling will be abandoned later this year and the same number expects a removal in 2017. Last week, Thomas Jordan affirmed the necessity to keep the ceiling, which was introduced in September 2011 in order to avoid economic slowdown and stave off haven flows from the Eurozone. Moreover, the cap was launched to assure a stable inflation growth, and according to SNB's projections consumer prices will rise this year and in 2015 by 0.2% and 0.6% respectively.
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