European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank

Credit Suisse: Credit Suisse, which issues the indicator along with German think-tank ZEW, said on Wednesday, according to Euro News. Both the Swiss National Bank and the European Central Bank have implemented negative interest rates, making it less attractive for banks to store cash with central bank and encouraging them to loan it out instead. In April, the percentage of analysts expecting a drop in short-term rates fell sharply for both regions , whereas the majority of the financial analysts are expecting short-term rates to rise in the United States. The SNB also aims to weaken the Swiss franc, which it calls significantly overvalued, through negative rates by discouraging investors from buying it as a safe haven currency. The ZEW barometer rose by 9.0 points in April to 11.5 points. However, the policy is a burden on the financial industry —as banks, insurers and pension funds are charged for their deposits — and some economists have argued it is doing more harm than good. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.