Swiss National Bank Vice President: We have not committed to continue lowering interest rates.

During his talk on Monday morning, Swiss National Bank Vice President, Antoine Martin, discussed the bank's monetary policy and emphasized that the Swiss National Bank has not made any commitment to the public regarding the likelihood of continuing to lower interest rates.

The key points made by Martin were:

• The Swiss National Bank has never committed to a specific plan regarding future monetary policy moves.
• It is not beneficial for central banks to confine themselves to pre-communication regarding monetary policy moves.
• Between now and the next decision, there could be further changes in economic conditions that render current communication and forecasts invalid.
• Everything will depend on the conditions and economic data when the Swiss National Bank assesses the situation in December.
• I expect the value of the franc to structurally increase over time amid inflation differentials; or a decrease in Swiss inflation.
• In terms of real value, the increase in the franc's value has been more limited.