ZURICH (Reuters) -The Swiss National Bank bought foreign currency worth 1.2 billion Swiss francs ($1.36 billion) in 2024, the central bank said on Tuesday, dramatically reducing its interventions after bringing inflation under control.
The figure compared with 132.9 billion Swiss francs of foreign currencies sold by the SNB during 2023 as the bank sought to boost the franc as a shield against imported price rises.
“While the SNB had sold foreign currency in 2022 and 2023 to tighten monetary conditions, it announced at the monetary policy assessment in December 2023 that it was no longer focusing on foreign currency sales,” the SNB said.
The strategy was effective, with Swiss inflation running at 1.1% during 2024, in the middle of the central banks’ targeted rate for annual price rises of 0-2%.
The central bank is due to announce its next monetary policy decisions on Thursday.
($1 = 0.8814 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Friederike Heine)
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