SNB's Schlegel ready to cut rates 'if required'

ZURICH, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank is prepared to cut interest rates further if it is necessary, Chairman Martin Schlegel said on Thursday after the central bank held its policy rate at 0%.

"Yes, we are prepared to cut further if it is required," Schlegel told reporters. "But the bar to go negative is higher."

The SNB would take rates negative if inflation fell outside its price stability target of inflation at 0-2% in the medium term, Schlegel said.

"This means we can have negative inflation prints in the short term, but in the medium term we need to achieve price stability," he added.