If the effects of unchanged mortgage rates are excluded, inflation will develop in a more stable manner and be close to the target of 2 per cent for most of the forecast period. It is weak productivity developments and the weak krona that will contribute to holding up inflation despite the economic recession. If the Swedish economy risks deteriorating more than expected, it may be necessary to implement further unconventional measures The future direction for monetary policy will depend, as usual, on how new information on economic developments abroad and in Sweden will affect the prospects for economic activity and inflation in Sweden. If the economic situation deteriorates further it is possible to use monetary policy easing to further stimulate the economy. But there are also reasons for further consideration of what is an appropriate level for the repo rate. If the repo rate were to become too low the transmission mechanism might become less effective. This is because some market rates are lower than the repo rate. When the repo rate approaches zero, these interest rates would no longer be able to follow. A too low repo rate could also create costs in the financial sector as the result of, for instance, a reduction in the banks’ margins. There is thus a risk that the functioning of the financial markets will deteriorate if the repo rate is cut further. In this case monetary policy will not have the intended effect.
News conference  15 December 2022, 10.00 am  Introductory remarks by Andréa M. Maechler In my remarks, I will talk in more detail about the implementation of today’s monetary policy decision, which Thomas Jordan has already touched on. I will start, however, by giving you an overview of how we have steered interest rates since the switch to a positive SNB policy rate in September. The switch from a negative to a positive SNB policy rate required us to make an adjustment to the implementation of our monetary policy in the money market. The new approach comprises two elements: reserve tiering – that is, tiered remuneration of the sight deposits that banks and other financial market participants hold at the SNB – and reserve absorption. This approach has proved successful. Following our monetary policy decision on 22 September, secured short-term Swiss franc money market rates moved quickly towards the new SNB policy rate (cf. chart 1). We are also continuing to see solid activity among participants in the money market, which ensures a robust basis for the calculation of SARON. From the outset, the market responded favourably to the deployment of our monetary policy instruments to absorb liquidity. On the very day of the monetary policy assessment in September, we started conducting repo transactions on a daily basis and issuing SNB bills on a weekly basis (cf. chart 2). In this way, we were able to reduce the liquidity supply in the money market sufficiently to allow us to steer interest rates effectively.