My very first SNB monetary policy assessment news conference

This week, the Swiss National Bank completed its first quarterly monetary policy assessment of the year. Today, the SNB's Governing Board -- Thomas Jordan, Martin Schlegel, and I -- held a press conference to announce that we had decided to lower the SNB policy rate by 25 basis points, to 1.5 percent per annum. A set of prepared introductory remarks was followed by a press conference, at which we answered journalists' questions about our decision.

Toward the end of the press conference, a journalist asked me about my first experiences since joining the SNB at the start of this year. I was happy to reply "It's been great! It's interesting to come from another central bank and experience the Swiss National Bank. There are of course minute differences, but at a high level there are a lot of similarities. My central banking colleagues are dedicated to the mission of the institution and really care about the fact that they serve the public. I've really appreciated finding that in my colleagues here. So I'm delighted."