ZEW-CS Financial Market Test Switzerland - Economic Expectations Drop Significantly

Economic expectations for Switzerland dropped by 34.6 points to the minus 58.9-point mark in July 2011. This is the lowest level since the beginning of 2009. The ZEW-CS-Indicator is calculated monthly by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in cooperation with Credit Suisse (CS). The indicator reflects the expectations of the surveyed financial market experts regarding the economic development in Switzerland on a six-month time horizon.

In recent months the diminishing economic expectations for Switzerland have been tempered by a very upbeat assessment of the current economic situation. In July, however, the prevailing evaluation deteriorated as well. The relevant balance declined by 17.4 points to the 52.9 point threshold.

The respective balances for inflation as well as interest rate expectations also registered much lower readings in July. Merely 23.5 per cent of the financial market experts surveyed predict that inflation rates will advance in the coming six months. The share of respondents who expect interest rates to advance in the same timeframe falls to 27.3 per cent. Meanwhile, 63.6 per cent of the experts think that the short-term interest rate environment will remain unchanged in Switzerland.

For further information please contact

Lena Jaroszek (ZEW), Phone +49 621/1235-380, E-mail jaroszek@zew.de

Fabian Heller (CS), Phone +41 44 332 90 61, E-mail fabian.heller@credit-suisse.com