ZEW-CS Financial Market Test Switzerland - Plunge in Switzerland’s Economic Outlook
CH Indicator of Economic Sentiment
The Credit Suisse ZEW Indicator, which tracks analysts' expectations for Switzerland's economy for the coming six months, plummeted by 62.2 points in February 2015 to a minus of 73.0 points. This nosedive - the biggest in the history of the indicator - shows that in the aftermath of the removal of the EUR/CHF exchange-rate floor the financial analysts surveyed are quite unanimously forecasting a worse performance for Switzerland's economy than before this decision. 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 last time when there was such a strong consensus about a dismal economic outlook was back in September 2011. However, the February reading is still well above the low of minus 91.1 points observed in October 2008. The assessment of the present state of economic activity in Switzerland also suffered in February 2015.
The indicator assessing the current economic situation tumbled by 45.9 points to a reading of minus 5.4 points.
In contrast, economic expectations for the Eurozone improved by 7.4 points compared to January, climbing to a balance of 41.7 points. Also the assessment of the current economic situation in the Eurozone improves by 22.1 points. The respective indicator now stands at a reading of minus 39.0 points.
Detailed Results
Detailed results are published in this month's edition of the "Financial Market Report Switzerland", which also includes the survey participants' assessment of developments in other countries:
For further information please contact
Lena Jaroszek (ZEW), Phone +49 (0)621 1235-380, E-mail jaroszek@zew.de
Lukas Gehrig (Credit Suisse), Phone +41 44 333 52 07, E-mail lukas.gehrig@credit-suisse.com