Switzerland kickstarts rate cuts for major central banks

Zurich: The Swiss National Bank on Thursday became the first major central bank to cut interest rates after a sustained period of hikes designed to co...

Zurich: The Swiss National Bank on Thursday became the first major central bank to cut interest rates after a sustained period of hikes designed to combat soaring inflation, with all eyes on when the US Federal Reserve will follow suit.

The SNB cut its rate by a quarter point to 1.5 percent following a Swiss tightening policy begun in June 2022.

In a busy week for central banks, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday held US interest rates steady, but left open the door to three interest rate cuts before the end of the year.

The Bank of England and Norwegian central bank kept their key interest rate unchanged on Thursday but are forecast to start cutting later this year.

Central banks worldwide ramped up borrowing costs in recent years to control inflation, which surged when economies emerged from Covid pandemic lockdowns and accelerated after energy producer Russia invaded agricultural power Ukraine in early February 2022.