Swiss National Bank's Rescue of Credit Suisse Encouraged Interest Rate Hike

The Swiss National Bank's decision to provide 50 billion Swiss francs (54 billion dollars) to Credit Suisse last night contributed to stabilizing financial markets and gave most policymakers the confidence to proceed with planned interest rate hikes, according to informed sources for Reuters. The sources clarified that the approval by European Central Bank officials, on Thursday, for another significant increase in interest rates came after Credit Suisse secured a rescue package and market calm was restored. They added that policymakers were nervously engaged on their phones, receiving regular market updates from the European Central Bank's staff on the first day of their meeting on Wednesday, as concerns about Credit Suisse had caused banking stocks across the Eurozone to decline and heightened fears of a new financial crisis. It was noted that the sudden drop disrupted the European Central Bank's plan to raise interest rates by another 50 basis points and raised questions about economic and inflation forecasts.