GENEVA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said Thursday its expansionary monetary policy would stay unchanged, but it is adjusting the basis for calculating negative interest on sight deposits at the central bank.
The SNB said in its Sept. 19 Monetary Assessment it is keeping the policy rate and interest on sight deposits at the Swiss central bank at minus 0.75 percent.
"It remains willing to intervene in the foreign exchange market as necessary while taking the overall currency situation into consideration," the SNB said.
A week earlier, the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) had cautioned that negative interest rates were denting Switzerland's competitiveness.
The SNB said Thursday it was adjusting the basis for calculating negative interest.
"Negative interest will continue to be charged on the portion of banks' sight deposits, which exceeds a certain exemption threshold."
"However, this exemption threshold will now be updated monthly and thereby reflect developments in banks' balance sheets over time."
The SNB said the adjustment its calculation basis considers the low interest rate environment around the world that "has recently become more entrenched and could persist for some time yet."
The expansionary monetary policy continued to be necessary given the latest international developments, and the inflation outlook in Switzerland, said the SNB.
