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

In October 2014 economic expectations for Switzerland decline sharply by 23.0 points. The ZEW-CS Indicator slides down to a level of minus 30.7 points, reaching a two-year low.

The ZEW-CS Indicator reflects the expectations of the surveyed financial market experts regarding the economic development in Switzerland on a six-month time horizon. It is calculated monthly by the Mannheim Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in cooperation with Credit Suisse (CS), Zurich.

The ZEW-CS indicator's sharp decline in October is likely attributable to experts concerns that unfavourable economic developments in the Eurozone will spread to Switzerland's economy. The present state of economic activity in the Eurozone is rated as "poor" by the majority of financial analysts surveyed, resulting in a balance of the current economic situation score of minus 64.9 points.

In contrast, the current state of economic activity in Switzerland is rated as surprisingly stable: As in the previous month one quarter of analysts assess the situation to be "good" while the remainder judges it to be "normal". Like this the net assessment balance remains steady at a level of 25.6 points as in the month before.

For further information please contact

Dr. Mariela Borell (ZEW), Telefon +49 (0)621 1235-144, E-Mail borell@zew.de

Lukas Gehrig (Credit Suisse), Telefon +41 44 333 52 07, E-Mail lukas.gehrig@credit-suisse.com