ECB Raises Interest Rates Amid Credit Suisse Crisis

On Thursday, March 16, 2023, the European Central Bank held their monetary policy meeting and decided to go ahead with their planned half a percentage point rise in their base interest rate, despite the financial turmoil of the past week.^[0] This decision is in focus for European markets, as the ECB is attempting to slow down the economy due to elevated inflation.

Additionally, Credit Suisse faced a free fall on Wednesday, when their largest investor, Saudi National Bank, refused to provide additional financial assistance.^[1] This sent Credit Suisse’s shares into a 30% decline before closing down 24%. Credit Suisse’s bonds also sank to distressed levels, prompting fears of a global banking crisis.^[2]

In response, the Swiss central bank agreed to loan the bank up to $50 billion, and Credit Suisse’s shares rose nearly 6% in the aftermath.^[3] Al Khudairy, a Credit Suisse investor, appealed for calm, saying that the panic surrounding the stock and the markets as a whole is “completely unwarranted.

0. “Wall Street banks organise a bailout operation as financial crisis deepens” WSWS, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/03/17/obwo-m17.html

1. “Credit Suisse was so fragile that a blunt answer in a TV interview was enough to send it to ask the Swiss central bank for $54 billion” Fortune, 16 Mar. 2023, https://fortune.com/2023/03/16/credit-suisse-shares-swiss-national-bank-bonds/

2. “AMC Fans Mock Credit Suisse as Share Prices Fall Below Meme Stock” Newsweek, 16 Mar. 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/amc-fans-mock-credit-suisse-share-prices-fall-1788328

3. “Credit Suisse pressures carry risks for the Triangle” The Business Journals, 16 Mar. 2023, https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2023/03/16/credit-suisse-stock-bonds-financial-sector.html