The concluding statement of the IMF mission to Switzerland (consultations under Article IV) includes the following top 5 recommendations:
- Ease monetary policy further to help limit an expected slowdown in growth and reduce risks related to very low inflation.
- To further support growth, allow fiscal automatic stabilizers to operate freely. If the downturn is more severe than expected, consider discretionary fiscal easing.
- Adopt pension reform to ensure the sustainability of the safety net for future generations.
- Raise banks’ minimum leverage ratio requirements to more ambitious levels to ensure banks have adequate capital to weather future shocks without recourse to public support.
- Pay bank auditors from a FINMA-managed, bank-financed fund rather than by the bank that is being audited to avoid conflicts of interest.
The IMF also calls for an overhaul of the deposit insurance scheme. It sees three risks to its central scenario:
- Risks related to low inflation.
- Uncertainty about EU relations and immigration.
- Global economic environment.