Private consumption fuels Swiss growth

Zurich

THE Swiss economy returned to growth at the end of last year as it fought off the impact of a currency shock that had threatened to push the country into a recession.

Gross domestic product (GDP) increased 0.4 per cent in the three months till December, after contracting 0.1 per cent in the prior quarter, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Bern said on Wednesday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a growth rate of 0.1 per cent for the fourth quarter.

The economy lost momentum last year after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) abolished its currency cap, sending the franc surging and hitting exports to the euro area. The SNB had introduced a cap on the value of the Swiss franc against the euro because of the euro currency crisis and the political crisis within the eurozone, which has seen the Swiss franc become regarded as a safe haven currency again, as it had been tr…