The Swiss central bank kept its negative interest rate unchanged and trimmed its inflation forecasts, while reiterating willingness to act to stem the currency's appreciation.

Schweizerische Nationalbank maintained the policy rate at negative 0.75%, in line with an Econoday poll.

The central bank said an expansionary monetary policy continued to be necessary given the country's inflation outlook.

Inflation is projected to slow to 0.1% in 2020 from the central bank's September forecast of 0.2%. For 2021, expected inflation was trimmed to 0.5% from 0.6% previously.

The Swiss economy is estimated to grow by about 1% this year, compared with a previous growth projection of 0.5% to 1.0%. The central bank expects growth of between 1.5% and 2% in 2020.

The central bank continued to assess the Swiss franc as "highly valued," noting that it will intervene in the foreign exchange market if needed.

The Swiss franc was up 0.10% versus the euro as of 4:37 a.m. ET. Year-to-date, it has appreciated 3.1% versus the currency.