Schweizerische Geldpolitik im Europäischen Umfeld

Today there is a broad consensus that price stability must be the primary goal of a central bank. At the same time, opinions differ on the desirable degree of price stability and on how this goal is to be achieved. In Switzerland, as elsewhere, money supply policy has lost much of its significance. In recent years, numerous central banks have actually abandoned their money supply policies in favour of a specific inflation target. Other rule-based concepts have also attracted attention; interest has of late focussed particularly on the TAYLOR Rule. The Swiss National Bank's monetary policy is additionally complicated by repeated currency appreciation due to the uncertainties surrounding EMU. The Swiss National Bank, however, is not forced to remain inactive. Depending on the extent of disruptions, it has the possibility of reacting in various ways to counteract an excessive rise of the Swiss franc.