Switzerland on Thursday became the first major economy to cut interest rates, after the Swiss National Bank lowered its main policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.5%.

The surprise easing by Switzerland comes a day after the Federal Reserve held rates steady and maintained its previous projection of three interest-rate cuts this year. Fed officials have said they won’t cut the Fed funds rate until they are confident enough that inflation is solidly on its way down to 2% annually.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England also kept its interest rate unchanged Thursday.

The Swiss central bank said Thursday that it was cutting its policy rate because inflation was retreating and was 1.2% in February. It is the central bank's first reduction in nine years.

"The easing of monetary policy has been made possible because the fight against inflation over the past two and a half years has been effective," the Swiss National Bank said in a statement. "For some months now, inflation has been back below 2% and thus in the range the SNB equates with price stability."

The central bank said it anticipates average inflation to be 1.4% this year and expects global economic growth to "remain moderate" in the coming quarters, with inflation falling, in part because of restrictive monetary policies by many countries.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that the bank may be able to lower its key interest rate in June if forthcoming data on inflation and wages comes in line with its projections.