SNB Is Prepared to Intervene in Currency Markets, Official Says

(Bloomberg) -- Go inside the global economy with Stephanie Flanders in her new podcast, Stephanomics. Subscribe via Pocket Cast or iTunes.

The Swiss National Bank stands ready to intervene in currency markets if necessary, according to one of its policy makers.

“We’ve always said that we have this approach that we have on the one hand negative interest rates still in place, but we’ve always said that whenever we feel it’s necessary we would be intervening, and that still counts,” Thomas Moser said while attending a conference in Copenhagen on Monday. “So if we feel that there is a need for more interventions we will certainly do it.”

For the past four years, the SNB used a deposit rate of minus 0.75% plus a pledge to use interventions to keep the haven franc in check.

The franc touched its highest in six weeks on Monday amid investor risk aversion. European stocks declined.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.