Economics

Central Banks Too Slow to Counter Inflation, UBS Chair Tells NZZ

  • 1970s energy crisis looms for global economy, Axel Weber says
  • Ukraine war will drive higher energy costs, defense investment

Pedestrians pass a food store on Sonnenallee in Berlin, Germany.

Photographer: Jacobia Dahm/Bloomberg
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Central banks haven’t acted quickly enough to counter rising inflation, Axel Weber, the outgoing chairman of UBS Group AG, said, adding that he expects Europe and Switzerland to eventually move to increase their historically low interest rates.

“I’ve been talking about uncomfortably high inflation rates for over a year,” Weber told Neue Zuercher Zeitung in an interview published Saturday. “The central banks have largely ignored this in the hope that the issue will resolve itself.”