Swiss central bank vice chair to step down in 2022

SNB vice chairman Fritz Zurbrügg is one of three governors who decide on Swiss monetary policy. Keystone / Anthony Anex

Swiss National Bank (SNB) Vice Chairman Fritz Zurbrügg will retire at the end of July 2022, the bank announced on Monday.

Zurbrügg, 61, who has served as SNB vice-chairman since 2015 – and heads the department that looks at financial stability and monitors risk in the financial system – has had health issues recentlyExternal link.

“The Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, Fritz Zurbrügg, has informed the Bank Council that he will be retiring at the end of July 2022,” the SNB said in a statement on Monday. The central bank did not name a successor.

Zurbrügg was in charge of implementing the SNB’s monetary policy when it ended its minimum exchange rate against the euro and introduced negative interest rates and forex purchases to counter the strength of the Swiss franc.

“Fritz Zurbrüggs activities at the SNB have been shaped by the low interest rate environment worldwide, various international crises and the extraordinary measures the SNB has had to take to ensure price stability,” the SNB said

In October it was reported that Zurbrügg had to undergo planned heart surgeryExternal link. This followed a cardiac procedureExternal link performed on chairman Thomas Jordan in August.

Last month, the SNB kept interest rates in negative territory and is due to announce its next monetary policy review in December.

Swiss National Bank governing board member Andrea Maechler said last month that modest Swiss inflation, at an annual rate of around 1.2%, was capping the franc’s rise. But she reiterated the SNB’s commitment to currency market interventions designed to limit, if needed, the effect that the Swiss franc’s strength has on Switzerland’s export-orientated economy.

The safe-haven currency has risen to its highest levels against the euro in more than six years.