SNB Currency Reserves Barely Rose in Third Quarter
Written on October 22, 2009
The Swiss National Bank’s currency reserves barely rose in the third quarter, indicating the central bank was under less pressure to act to prevent the Swiss franc from appreciating.
Foreign-currency holdings rose 0.4 percent to 82.04 billion Swiss francs ($81.1 billion) in the three months through September after surging 46 percent in the second quarter, the Zurich-based SNB said on its Web site today.
The SNB started buying foreign currencies in March to ward off an appreciation of the franc and fight deflation as part of measures to bolster the economy. In the six months prior to the move, the franc gained more than 7 percent versus the euro, reducing import prices and increasing the risk of deflation.
“It seems as if the SNB is resorting to a lesser extent to its unconventional measures than some months ago,” said Martin Gueth, an economist at Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart. “But it hasn’t abandoned them altogether no fax needed payday loans.”
Euro holdings rose by 700 million euros ($1.05 billion) to 32.7 billion euros in the third quarter after increasing 11.7 billion euros in the second quarter. Dollar holdings rose by around $500 million to $20.5 billion.
The Swiss franc was little changed after the reserves data were published and traded at 1.5099 versus the euro at 12:44 p.m. in Zurich. It has weakened about 2 percent since the SNB began the currency purchases on March 12.
At its last monetary policy assessment on Sept. 17, the SNB said it would maintain “the expansionary policy which it initiated last March.” It also said it will “continue to act decisively to prevent any appreciation of the Swiss franc against the euro.”
The SNB holds its next quarterly monetary policy assessment in December.
Filed in: business.