The Swiss franc gained on some of its most-trade counterparts, including the US dollar, the euro, and the Great Britain pound, following today’s monetary policy meeting of the Swiss National Bank.
The SNB announced that it is keeping interest rates stable:
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is maintaining its expansionary monetary policy. Interest on sight deposits at the SNB is to remain at â0.75% and the target range for the three-month Libor is unchanged at between â1.25% and â0.25%.
The central bank also said that it would continue to intervene into currency markets in order to weaken the franc. The bank explained the necessity for negative rates and interventions:
The negative interest rate and the SNBâs willingness to intervene in the foreign exchange market are intended to make Swiss franc investments less attractive, thereby easing upward pressure on the currency. The Swiss franc is still significantly overvalued. The SNBâs expansionary monetary policy is aimed at stabilising price developments and supporting economic activity.
Forecasts provided by the bank promised economic recovery to continue thought with slower pace in the second half of the year. The inflation forecast received a negative revision and now promises inflation to reach the 1% mark in the first quarter of 2019 versus the third quarter of 2018 predicted in the June forecast.
USD/CHF dropped from 0.9734 to 0.9714 as of 18:01 GMT today after rising to 0.9768 intraday. EUR/CHF declined from 1.0950 to 1.0927. GBP/CHF went down from 1.2883 to 1.2839.
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