Monetary policy SNB buys foreign currency worth 728 million in the third quarter
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) once again purchased foreign currency in the third quarter of 2024. From July to September, the central bank purchased the equivalent of CHF 728 million worth of foreign currency, according to SNB statistics published on Tuesday.
31.12.2024, 09:22
SDA
At the start of the year, the SNB reversed course and bought foreign currency again for the first time since the first quarter of 2022. In the first half of the year, the SNB purchased foreign currency amounting to CHF 384 million.
Prior to this, the SNB had acted as a seller on a large scale. The monetary authorities wanted to strengthen the franc in order to keep imported inflation low, which had shot up after the end of the coronavirus pandemic and the outbreak of war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
However, inflation has since calmed down again and has even fallen more sharply than the SNB had expected. For this reason, the monetary authorities surprisingly lowered the key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to 0.5% three weeks ago.
