Bern (awp) – Martin Schlegel will succeed Thomas Jordan as head of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) on October 1. The current vice-president has assured that he wants to continue implementing the mandate of the Swiss issuing institute in terms of price stability.
Mr. Schlegel, who joined the Swiss central bank in 2003, was appointed on Wednesday by the Federal Council to the post of president of the general management of the Swiss National Bank (SNB).
Antoine Martin, currently a member of the general management and head of the 3rd department, will take over the role of vice-president and Petra Tschudin, until now an alternate member, will join the general management, announced the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) in a press release .
Karin Keller-Sutter, head of the DFF, underlined “the solid professional competence” of the new boss of the SNB, which is “recognized internationally”.
In May, the government established a first list of potential candidates, also evaluating candidates from outside the issuing institute, detailed the Minister of Finance during a press conference in Bern.
Martin Schlegel, for his part, underlined “the great honor” and “the great responsibility” of having become head of the SNB. The latter “has been effective in recent years”, in fighting against soaring inflation in Switzerland. “We will continue to ensure our mandate of price stability,” he insisted, while the Swiss central bank has just lowered its key rate for the second time to 1.25%.
Asked about the importance of climate change in the SNB’s investment strategy, a subject for which it is regularly criticized, Mr. Schlegel only indicated that the issuing institute “analyzes the consequences of climate change” in the context of of the establishment’s policy.
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For her part, Ms. Keller-Sutter applauded Thomas Jordan’s “remarkable work in difficult times” and “precious commitment to our country.”
Mr. Jordan joined the SNB in Zurich in 1997 and was appointed member of the general management in May 2007. The Biennois took the reins of the Swiss central bank in April 2012, then in the midst of a crisis following the resignation of Philipp Hildebrand. The latter was forced to resign following controversial currency transactions carried out by his then wife.
The lifting of the floor rate between the franc and the euro in 2015 was one of the highlights of Mr. Jordan’s presidency, while the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the fall of Credit Suisse marked the end of his mandate.
Having defended for many years, against all odds, an ultra-accommodating monetary policy which drew the wrath of the banking sector in Switzerland, the outgoing president of the SNB put an end in September 2022 to the negative interest rates he had introduced in 2015.
The SNB managed to effectively counter inflationary pressures in Switzerland, with the rise in consumer prices remaining well below the euro zone. After reaching a peak of 3.5% in July 2022, due to the surge in the prices of energy products following the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, inflation has continually declined in Switzerland. In May, it peaked at 1.4%, in the 0% to 2% range that the SNB equates to price stability.
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