Our policy works much better and more efficiently when we are open and clear about our objectives and the reasons for our decisions. An important piece of the puzzle is that we now have a "direct” and clear inflation target. Although the fixed exchange rate was aimed "indirectly” at providing low and stable inflation, this was not really as clear. But with a fixed exchange rate monetary policy is also governed by external events, which has both advantages and disadvantages. Up to the beginning of the 1990s, the Riksbank was on the whole a closed and rather secretive institution, just like most other central banks at that time. Today the situation is the opposite. We are now considered one of the world’s most open central banks. The fact that an independent authority must provide opportunities for insight and evaluation is natural in our society. Another aspect that may be of importance is that the openness puts a little extra pressure on us to develop and do our job as well and as efficiently as possible. And I can note that our methods have changed substantially. Willingness to change and rapid development in our working methods The fact that a lot has happened since the mid-1970s when we sat and drew diagrams and forecasts by hand on graph paper is not surprising. But even during my period in office the last six years our methods of working have shown a rapid development.
Jean-Pierre Roth: Foreign trade is Switzerland’s growth driver Summary of a speech by Mr Jean-Pierre Roth, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, at OSEC Business Network Switzerland, Zurich, 17 April 2008. The complete speech can be found in French on the Swiss National Bank’s website (www.snb.ch). *  *  *  Foreign trade has played a major role during the present economic cycle. Over the past two years, it has made an exceptional contribution to GDP growth – with figures that bear comparison to the two upswing periods of the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. This strong export performance not only reflects a reorientation to accommodate the world economy’s new growth hubs, but is also the result of successful sector specialisation and the Swiss export industry’s premium-quality positioning. Switzerland’s watchmaking and pharmaceutical industries have been particularly impressive in this regard. Thanks to the speed at which its export industry has been able to adapt to global demand, Switzerland is well placed to benefit from the prevailing increase in earnings within the emerging markets. By specialising in the technology segment and tailoring its exports to customer needs, Switzerland is not only able to reap the rewards of upswings in the global economic cycle.