Swiss central bankers met expectations and kept monetary policy stable, but analysts warned that rising energy costs could force the bank to raise rates.

In a widely anticipated move, the Swiss National Bank left its policy rate unchanged at 0.00%. It said that sight deposits held by banks continued to be remunerated at the policy rate up to a set threshold, with a 0.25 percentage point discount above that threshold.

In addition, the SNB moderated its tone regarding currency interventions, removing previous references to an "increased willingness," stating instead that it remained prepared to intervene in the foreign exchange market as necessary to maintain appropriate monetary conditions.

Regarding economic activity, the bank said that Second-quarter Swiss GDP growth was unusually strong, partly inflated by the chemical and pharmaceutical sector, though underlying economic momentum remains solid.

(Continue Reading – LS)

Over the last decade, China has transformed from the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyer into a major global reseller. Plateauing domestic demand, a ballooning portfolio of long-term contracts, and a structural pivot by state-owned enterprises into LNG shipping and trading are positioning Chinese companies as significant competitors to traditional suppliers as the market enters a period of historic oversupply.

China's LNG imports have fallen from a peak of 79 million tonnes (Mt) in 2021 to 66Mt in 2025 and are expected to decline further to 63Mt in 2026. Meanwhile, extensive contracting between 2021 and 2023, during which Chinese buyers signed nearly 60Mt of new supply agreements, has generated a growing surplus of contracted volumes. Ship-tracking data show that resales by Chinese-chartered vessels reached 8.4Mt in 2025. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) estimates that total Chinese LNG resales that year were likely to be between 17Mt and 19Mt, with South Korea, Japan, and the Netherlands as the leading destinations.

(Continue Reading – IEEFA)

AI promises to deliver significant productivity gains to individuals and businesses, but could it also help developed market governments reduce their budget deficits and pay down debt? It might.

The estimated productivity gains from AI are highly uncertain. Chicago Federal Reserve Board economist Ezra Karger, opens new tab and his colleagues recently surveyed economists, superforecasters, AI experts, and the general public ​on the question. The median estimate for the boost to US gross domestic product (GDP) growth from AI was around 0.5 percentage point per year through 2031. Economists, perhaps unsurprisingly, are much more conservative than the ‌other groups, expecting only a 0.1 percentage point boost annually over the next five years.

(Continue Reading – RTRS)