Investing.com - The Swiss National Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at record-low levels and reiterated that it is still prepared to take further action to weaken the franc, 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 still significantly overvalued." The SNB added that it will "remain active in the foreign exchange market in order to influence exchange rate developments where necessary."
The new conditional inflation forecast suggests inflation will rise faster over the coming quarters than the SNB predicted in March, principally due to the significant increase in oil prices in the intervening period.
The SNB expects the moderate growth in the global economy to sustain over the coming quarters. Nevertheless, significant risks remain for the global economy. Furthermore, the imminent UK referendum on whether to stay in the European Union may cause uncertainty and turbulence to increase.
SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan was to comment on the decision at a press conference later in the day.
EUR/CHF was trading at 1.0820 from around 1.0825 ahead of the decision, while USD/CHF was at 0.9603 from 0.9606 earlier.