NEWS

Last meeting of the European Central Bank is said to had been quite intensive with some policy makers opposing to keeping the rates below zero, and pushing to acknowledge damaging effects of negative rates in a statement. In the end, no such thing happened.

Swiss economy is forecasted to remain stable next year, according to government and the central bank. Forecasts do not predict significant growth before 2021. The SNB kept unchanged its monetary policy.

The euro exchange rate was flat against the US dollar on Friday, as the American currency is on its way to record the worst week in almost two months. Unsteady relations between China and US, as well as signs of US economy’s slowdown were to blame.

Switzerland is suffering from the shortage of skilled workers, according to the newest report. Especially it is difficult to hire technical works or engineers. In order to fill in vacancies employers turn to cross-border workers and foreign residents from third countries – next year the country will issue 8,500 work visas for non-EU foreigners.

Swiss government plans to increase requirements in terms of financial transparency by implementing recommendations of Global Forum with regard to automatic exchange of financial data (AEOI) with other countries. AEOI network is set to get bigger next year.