"We are convinced that this policy is effective, and shall continue to pursue it with the utmost determination"
- SNB governing board member Fritz Zurbruegg
The Swiss National Bank pledged its readiness to continue defending a cap of 1.20 per euro, considering this measure as an appropriate, according to governing board member Fritz Zurbruegg's statement. The SNB has been selling francs for other currencies, mostly euros, in order to avoid the risk of deflation and a recession, when investors rushed to buy Swiss francs as a safe haven from the eurozone's debt crisis. As a result, bank's balance sheet expanded to 500 billion Swiss francs, reaching almost 70% of nation's GDP.
"We are convinced that this policy is effective, and shall continue to pursue it with the utmost determination," said governing board member Fritz Zurbruegg.
"We are aware that the huge amounts we have under management could impact significantly on market prices. To prevent this kind of problem, we control the volumes we place on the markets, so as to avoid having any perceptible market impact."
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies, rose 0.02 per cent to 6,715.20. The broader Swiss Performance Index added 0.01 per cent to stand at 6,183.32.
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