SNB's Maechler: Won't hesitate to raise interest rates if inflation remains outside our target

Swiss National Bank governing board member Andrea Maechler said in an interview published in Swiss newspaper Bilan on Monday that the central bank won't hesitate to raise interest rates if inflation remains outside of target. 

"If the inflation we expect does not come down in the medium term to a range between 0% and 2%, we will not hesitate to tighten policy," Maechler said. 

The headline rate of annual Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to 2.5% in April in Switzerland, data released earlier this month showed, above the bank's zero to 2.0% target range. The fact that the European Central Bank has announced to take its policy rate out of negative territory this year removes some pressure on the SNB to maintain rates at their present -0.75% level.