The Swiss National Bank is prepared to defend the franc from strengthening further than 1.20 per euro if tensions in Ukraine push up the Swiss currency, Swiss National Bank Chairman Thomas Jordan told a Swiss newspaper.
“We would intervene and buy unlimited quantities of foreign currency to defend the minimum exchange rate or take other measures if needed,” Jordan is quoted as saying in an interview with Basler Zeitung on Saturday, which also appears in Germany’s Boersenzeitung.
Jordan called the situation in the Ukraine, which the SNB is carefully monitoring, a “risk not to be underestimated.”
via Reuters
–
And more at the Wall Street Journal, the article does not appear to be gated … SNB’s Jordan: Floor Remains Central Policy Instrument — Report
- Mr. Jordan repeated his view that it would be inappropriate to exit from the minimum exchange policy and raise interest rates in a bid to counter the boom in the country’s property market.
- “The SNB’s mandate is to preserve price stability in the medium term and, with lower interest rates around the world, higher interest rates in Switzerland are not an option,” Mr. Jordan told the newspaper.
- He said that there was no inflation risk in Switzerland at the moment, but he warned there was a danger that the country could slip into a deflationary phase. “Therefore, the minimum exchange rate is the right instrument for us,” Mr. Jordan was quoted as saying.
—
More again at Bloomberg: Jordan Tells Basler SNB Doesn’t Exclude Negative Rates
- The Swiss National Bank (SNBN) won’t rule out taking further steps to ensure its monetary-policy stance remains appropriate, President Thomas Jordan said in an interview with Basler Zeitung… “We fundamentally exclude no measures that help us to guarantee adequate monetary conditions,” he told the newspaper. “In this context, we have for example already previously mentioned the possible introduction of negative interest rates.”
—
Thomas J. Jordan is the chairman of the governing board of the Swiss National Bank
