The Swiss National Bank said Thursday that it will continue to maintain its loose monetary policy despite inflation rising and the Swiss Franc reaching its highest value in six-and-a half years.

According to Reuters poll results, the SNB maintained its policy rate at -0.75%. This was unanimously predicted by economists. It also committed to currency intervention to stop the growth of safe-haven currencies.

This description, which the central bank used in September 2017, still refers to the franc “highly valuable.” Since then the franc has appreciated 10% versus the euro <EURCHF=> to reach its highest level since July 2015.

The SNB stated in a statement that the SNB was maintaining its expansionary monetary policy. It is also ensuring price stability, and helping the Swiss economy recover from the effects of the coronavirus epidemic.

An analysis of sight deposits, which is a proxy for foreign currency purchases, shows that the SNB seems to have resumed foreign currency intervention after being on the sidelines for several weeks.

SNB has updated its economic forecasts and now anticipates the Swiss GDP to increase by about 3.5% in 2021. This compares with its September view of around 3%. The SNB forecasted that growth would be around 3% in 2022. 

The SNB forecasted that inflation would rise to 0.6% by 2021. This is an increase of 0.5% from September’s prediction. Inflation in Switzerland is forecast to reach 0.6% by 2023 and at 1% in 2022, as opposed to 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, for previous forecasts.