Andréa Maechler will examine the implementation of our monetary policy in more detail later. Inflation forecast  I would now like to address the development of inflation. Inflation has declined somewhat in recent months, and stood at 3.0% in November. This decrease was above all attributable to  Page 1/4  Berne, 15 December 2022 Thomas Jordan  News conference  smaller price increases for oil products. However, inflation is still clearly above the range we equate with price stability, and is likely to remain elevated for the time being. Our new conditional inflation forecast is based on the assumption that the SNB policy rate is 1.0% over the entire forecast horizon (cf. chart 1). Up to the beginning of 2023, the forecast is below that of September owing to the somewhat lower oil price. From mid-2023 onwards, the new forecast is higher and stands at 2.1% at the end of the forecast horizon. That our new forecast is higher over the medium term despite the raising of the SNB policy rate is attributable to stronger inflationary pressure from abroad and the fact that price increases are spreading across the various categories of goods and services in the consumer price index. The new forecast puts average annual inflation at 2.9% for 2022, 2.4% for 2023 and 1.8% for 2024 (cf. table 1). Without today’s SNB policy rate increase, the inflation forecast would be even higher over the medium term. Global economic outlook  I will now move on to the economic outlook.
News conference  15 December 2022, 10.00 am  Introductory remarks by Thomas Jordan Ladies and gentlemen It is my pleasure to welcome you to the news conference of the Swiss National Bank. I would also like to welcome all those who are joining us today online. After our introductory remarks, the members of the Governing Board will take questions from journalists as usual. Monetary policy decision  I will begin with our monetary policy decision. We have decided to tighten our monetary policy further and to raise the SNB policy rate by 0.5 percentage points to 1.0%. In doing so, we are countering increased inflationary pressure and a further spread of inflation. It cannot be ruled out that additional rises in the SNB policy rate will be necessary to ensure price stability over the medium term. To provide appropriate monetary conditions, we are also willing to be active in the foreign exchange market as necessary. The SNB policy rate change applies from tomorrow, 16 December 2022. Banks’ sight deposits held at the SNB will be remunerated at the SNB policy rate of 1.0% up to a certain threshold. Sight deposits above this threshold will be remunerated at an interest rate of 0.5%, and thus still at a discount of 0.5 percentage points relative to the SNB policy rate. With this tiered remuneration of sight deposits and open market operations, we are ensuring that the secured short-term Swiss franc money market rates are close to the SNB policy rate.