Summary of a speech delivered by the Chairman of the Governing Board

April 23, 1999
Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Berne

Summary

The Chairman of the Governing Board, Hans Meyer, opened his speech by reviewing economic developments and monetary policy in Switzerland during 1998. He then addressed the economic and social problems in the various regions of the world which characterised the past year. In conclusion he dealt once more with the reform of the Swiss monetary constitution and the National Bank's endeavours concerning its role during the Second World War.

Switzerland's economic recovery continued in 1998 despite the difficult international environment. The standstill in the growth of exports at the end of last year was offset by increased domestic demand. Favourable monetary conditions contributed to the gratifying development. The National Bank countered the upward pressure on the Swiss franc in the wake of the turbulence in the international financial markets by expanding the supply of money. The criticism levelled against the International Monetary Fund following the crises in East Asia, Russia and Brazil is understandable albeit exaggerated. The adaptation of the Swiss monetary constitution in keeping with the times is progressing well on various statutory levels. The National Bank regrets the dark sides of its conduct during the difficult war years; it holds the view that the official endeavours are a valid contribution to coming to terms with the past.

Download file now

The file can be downloaded with the button below.

Additional files

Related content

Author(s)

  • Hans Meyer
    Chairman of the Governing Board

Your settings

Required: These cookies (e.g. for storing your IP address) cannot be rejected as they are necessary to ensure the operation of the website. These data are not evaluated further.
Analytics: If you consent to this category, data such as IP address, location, device information, browser version and site visitor behaviour will be collected. These data are evaluated for the SNB's internal purposes and are kept for two years.
Third-party: If you consent to this category, third-party services (used, for example, to add social multimedia content to the SNB's website) will be activated which collect personal data, process these data, disclose them abroad - worldwide - and place cookies. The relevant data protection regulations are linked in the 'Privacy statement for the website of the Swiss National Bank'.

Choose your preferred settings:

This website uses cookies, analytics tools and other technologies to provide requested features, content and services, to personalise the content shown, to provide links to social media, and to analyse the use of the website in anonymised form for the purposes of improving usability. Personal data are also disclosed abroad - worldwide - to video service providers and the analytics tools of these providers are used. More information is available under 'Manage settings'.