Press Releases

The KOF Economic Barometer fell by 4.0 points in August and now stands at 86.5. This is quite considerably below its long-term average. Accordingly, for the near future the outlook for the Swiss economy appears less than encouraging.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, a pronounced weakness in investment is becoming increasingly apparent, making it difficult to return to strong economic activity. The ETH researchers Hans Gersbach, Heiner Mikosch and Jan-Egbert Sturm therefore propose to extent the COVID-19 lending programme, focusing on investment and gradually reducing government guarantees. This can accelerate the economic recovery without placing a heavy burden on the public finances.

The KOF Economic Barometer has halted its downward movement, at least for the time being. At 94.7 points, however, the barometer is still well below its long-term average. The Swiss economy is therefore likely to grow with below-average rates in the upcoming months.

In September, the KOF Economic Barometer falls to its lowest level since 2015. It now stands at 93.2 points, 2.3 points lower than in August (revised from 97.0 to 95.5 points). The downward tendency that has been evident since the beginning of the year is now continuing. The economic outlook for Switzerland remains gloomy towards the end of 2019.

The KOF Economic Barometer shows the same reading in August as in the previous month. The Barometer thus continues to indicate below-average momentum. Accordingly, during the next few months the Swiss economy can be expected to perform moderately.