ZURICH, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Central banks need to resist political pressure to slow monetary policy tightening as they hike interest rates to fight resurgent inflation, Swiss National Bank Chairman Thomas Jordan said on Tuesday.
Risks to central bank independence are "real and present around the globe, also in Switzerland", Jordan said in remarks prepared for a lecture to the Peterson Institute in Washington.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"Moreover, as inflation is persistent and higher than central banks' targets, central banks are politically more vulnerable."
But to fight inflation effectively, central banks needed to be independent – "precisely at a time when such independence is at risk because of high inflation", Jordan said.
Still, Jordan noted that in some instances politicians have started questioning central bank independence, although he did not mention any countries.