Swiss-EU talks at risk, Riksbank to signal Q4 rate rise

The Swiss Government this week made no progress towards reaching a deal with Brussels that would see Switzerland retain its unrestricted access to the Single Market.  With the anti-immigrant SVP party announcing that it has collected enough signatures to hold a referendum on ending the free movement of labour between the EU and Switzerland, the Government will find it difficult to appease all sides. Meanwhile, strong Norwegian labour market data bolstered the case for the Norges Bank to raise interest rates in September. Sweden’s Riksbank is unlikely to be far behind. We expect the Bank to stick to its guidance next week that interest rates will rise before the end of this year.