In October, Swiss foreign exchange reserves tumbled for the first time after 8 months and price pressures held low allowing the bank to put more control on the franc. The Swiss National Bank kept 424.38 billion francs of currency holdings this month that was lower than the 429.48 billion francs reserved in September. Although the debt turmoil in the euro-area induced Switzerland to intervene, a slow recovery from crisis in September has prompted the franc to weaken to 1.21per euro.
The consumer prices eased 0.2% throughout the year, clearly showing the effects of weak economy in the eurozone, therefore no significant rise in inflation is seen. The SNB has to retain positive inflation, yet lower than 2%.
"Humming along is probably the way forward," said UBS economist Reto Huenerwadel, who thinks the "the next quarter will be a lot like the last."