Swiss Economy Recovers In Q3

Switzerland’s economy rebounded in the third quarter underpinned by exports and consumption, official data showed on Friday.

Gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent sequentially, in contrast to the 0.1 percent fall in the previous three months, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said.

The Swiss economy was forecast to expand 0.1 percent.

GDP expanded 0.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, the same rate as seen in the previous three months.

On the expenditure-side, private consumption growth halved to 0.2 percent from 0.4 percent. At the same time, government consumption gained 0.5 percent after staying flat a quarter ago.

Equipment and software investment declined 1.1 percent, while construction investment gained 0.2 percent.

Exports of goods and services grew 6.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. At the same time, imports of goods gained 1.5 percent, while that of services dropped 0.4 percent.

Value added in manufacturing remained flat and construction shrank 0.3 percent. On the other hand, the service sector provided support to growth.

In September, the government had projected the economy to expand 1.3 percent this year and 1.2 percent in 2024.

With the economy likely to remain lackluster and inflation set to fall in early 2024, the Swiss National Bank is likely to start loosening monetary policy ahead of the European Central Bank, Capital Economics economist Adrian Prettejohn said.

The economist expects the key interest rate to be cut to 1.50 percent from 1.75 percent in the March meeting.

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