2017.03.2109:30:00UTC+00Switzerland's Economic Growth Forecast for 2017 lowered to 1.6 Pct - Seco

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in its latest forecast on Tuesday lowered its outlook for Switzerland's economic growth during 2017. SECO said it expected Switzerland's economy to grow at 1.6 percent in 2017, down from the forecast of 1.8 percent it forecasted in December.

SECO added that it expected inflation to pick up. SECO expects economic growth of 1.9 percent in 2018, unchanged from its earlier view.  This suggests the Swiss economy "would continue to recover at a solid albeit not exceptionally strong rate," SECO said.

The downward adjustment was largely on account of a "sluggish close of 2016," SECO said. "Growth is nevertheless expected to step up significantly over the coming quarters, largely offsetting the lack of momentum at the turn of 2017," it added.

SECO forecasts inflation to be 0.5 percent in 2017 and 0.3 percent in 2018, compared to its earlier view of 0 percent and 0.2 percent.