ISTANBUL

The Swiss central bank raised its policy interest rate by 50 basis points to 1.5% on Thursday amid concerns related to the banking sector.

The fourth consecutive hike was aimed at fighting ongoing inflationary pressure, the Swiss National Bank said in a statement, recalling that the annual inflation rate was at 3.4% in February.

While the collapse of Swiss lender Credit Suisse caused shock waves in the global financial markets, its rival UBS announced that it would buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion francs ($3.24 billion) with the support of the government.

Against the financial crisis, the central bank is providing large amounts of liquidity in Swiss francs and foreign currencies, the statement said.