Investing.com - The Swiss National Bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at record-low levels, it announced on Thursday.
In a statement, the SNB said it was keeping its benchmark interest rate unchanged at -0.75%, in line with expectations. The central bank also left the target range for the three-month Libor unchanged at between -1.25% and -0.25%.
The accompanying rate statement released after the announcement said that "the Swiss franc is significantly overvalued and should continue to weaken over time."
The SNB will "remain active in the foreign exchange market, as necessary, in order to influence monetary conditions."
The SNB’s conditional inflation forecast has been adjusted substantially downwards compared to the December forecast.
Together with the sharp fall in oil prices, the appreciation of the Swiss franc since the minimum exchange rate was discontinued moves inflation further into negative territory for a short period.
SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan was to comment on the decision at a press conference later in the day.
EUR/CHF was trading at 1.0584 from around 1.0612 ahead of the decision, while USD/CHF was at 0.9938 from 0.9970 earlier.