ZURICH, Jan 30 (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank said on Friday it does not engage in any manipulation of the Swiss franc and has taken note of the U.S. Treasury’s latest report on macroeconomic and foreign exchange policies of major U.S. trading partners.
The U.S. Treasury said it was strengthening scrutiny of countries’ foreign exchange practices, including interventions to resist both depreciation and appreciation against the dollar, but did not accuse any major partners of currency manipulation.
The SNB was responding after the U.S. Treasury kept Switzerland on a monitoring list of 10 countries whose foreign exchange practices it said warranted close attention.
“The SNB does not engage in any manipulation of the Swiss franc,” it said in a statement. “It neither seeks to prevent balance of payments adjustments nor to gain unfair competitive advantages for the Swiss economy.”
The Swiss central bank added that it remains in contact with U.S. authorities to explain Switzerland’s economic situation and monetary policy, and welcomes ongoing discussions as part of macroeconomic dialogue.
The SNB also referred back to a joint statement on foreign exchange matters agreed with the central bank, the Swiss finance department and the U.S. Treasury in September.
The September statement confirmed that the U.S. Treasury recognised that foreign exchange interventions were an important instrument for the SNB to meet its target of controlling inflation.
SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel last week told Reuters foreign currency interventions and interest rates remained the central bank’s main tools to ensure price stability – inflation of between 0 and 2%, a task it was mandated under Swiss law.
At the SNB’s last interest rate decision in December, Schlegel said the central bank remained willing to be active in the foreign exchange markets “as necessary.”
(Reporting by John Revill and Thomas Seythal, Editing by Dave Graham and Friederike Heine)
