Swiss infaltion steady at 0.6 pct in March,beats forecasts for a drop,despite slowing energy price rise

Switzerland’s inflation rate was unexpectedly strong in March, holding steady despite slowing energy price rises. Switzerland’s consumer price inflation rose 0.6 percent, the same as the previous month, beating forecasts for a drop to 0.5 percent.

Swiss consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in March following a 0.5 percent gain the previous month and the monthly data was in line with consensus forecasts. Excluding energy, prices rose 0.2 percent over the year.

Import prices were unchanged on the month with a year-on-year increase of 0.2 percent while import prices rose 0.8 percent in March to give a 1.6 percent annual increase. Food prices fell 1.2 percent on the month with the annual increase held at 0.6 percent.

In its March policy statement, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) revised up its short-term inflation outlook due to the impact of higher energy prices, although there was little change to the medium-term outlook. The SNB will remain extremely wary of inflation fading once again and the latest data is unlikely to have a major impact on monetary policy expectations.