ZEW-CS Financial Market Test Switzerland - Economic Expectations Drop Significantly

CH Indicator of Economic Sentiment

Economic expectations for Switzerland deteriorated in May 2011. The relevant ZEW-CS-Indicator dropped by 20.3 points to the minus 11.5 threshold. The ZEW-CS Indicator is calculated monthly by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in cooperation with Credit Suisse (CS). The indicator reflects the expectations of the surveyed financial market experts regarding the economic development in Switzerland on a six-month time horizon.

In contrast, the assessment of the current economic situation in Switzerland continued to brighten up in May. The relevant indicator edged upto the 68.6 mark (up 6.8 points).

Expectations regarding inflation and interest rates declinedin May. The indicator for the inflation outlook dropped by a noticeable 30.8 points, and in the interim only 51.4 percent of the financial market experts surveyed forecast an advancing inflation rate on a six-month horizon.

For further information please contact

Dr. Gunnar Lang (ZEW), Phone +49 621/1235-372, E-mail lang@zew.de

Fabian Heller (CS), Phone +41 44 332 90 61, E-mail fabian.heller@credit-suisse.com