Swiss input price inflation picked up in October due to higher import costs, data showed on Tuesday, but the rise was lower than expected, giving the Swiss National Bank leeway to hold interest rates in December.
But a jump in the UBS consumption indicator for October, pointing to healthy consumer spending, supported views that the central bank had little reason so far to cut rates anytime soon as the economy remained on a robust footing.
Combined producer and import prices were 0.2 percent higher than in September, taking the annual input price inflation rate to 2.7 percent in October, the Federal Statistics Office said.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected the annual rate to be 2.8 percent up from 2.4 percent in September. Producer prices rose 2.5 percent year-on-year, while import prices rose 3.1 percent, the statistics office said. "The franc has appreciated in November, so theells won't ringe higher import prices, which are mostly oil driven anyway," ZKB's David Marmet said. "The SNB has the opportunity to wait in December. They still can raise rates in the longer run but from the inflation side there is no need for immediate action," he said.
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