Swiss KOF Economic Barometer Hits Highest Level Since August 2006

(RTTNews) - The Swiss KOF EconomicInstitute said on Friday that its economic barometer in May rose to its highest level since August 2006. The think tank also said the Swiss economic recovery is likely to continue in the coming months.

The KOF economic barometer rose to 2.16 from 2.05 logged in April. Economists had forecast a reading of 2.02 for May. The indicator has now been continuously on the rise for a year. The April reading was revised up from 1.99 reported earlier.

In the next few months, the year-on-year growth rate of Swiss gross domestic product should be clearly positive, the think tank said, citing the trend of the barometer. The Swiss National Bank expects the economy to expand around 1% this year.

The KOF economic barometer is based on a multi-sectoral design with three modules, the core GDP module, the construction module and the banking module. The core GDP module, which excludes construction and banking, indicates continuously high growth rates. This module accounts for more than 90% of Swiss GDP and hence dominates the KOF barometer. The other two modules were also in positive territory, the think tank added.