Swiss National Bank's bar for negative interest rates is high, chairman says

BY Reuters | ECONOMIC | 11/21/25 08:43 AM EST

ZURICH, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank has a high bar for lowering interest rates below zero, given that negative rates can be a big challenge for a lot of actors in the economy, SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel said on Friday.

However, the SNB is ready to go into negative rate territory if necessary to ensure price stability in the medium term, Schlegel added.

(Reporting by Ariane Luthi Editing by Ludwig Burger)

In general the bond market is volatile, and fixed income securities carry interest rate risk. (As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.) Fixed income securities also carry inflation risk and credit and default risks for both issuers and counterparties. Unlike individual bonds, most bond funds do not have a maturity date, so avoiding losses caused by price volatility by holding them until maturity is not possible.

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