Central Banks,SNB Real Time News items

• SNB Determined to Brake CHF Rise vs. EUR Posted:09/07/2009 17:46 GMT by NeedToKnowNews
  The Swiss National Bank (SNB) bank is determined to arrest the appreciation of the Swiss franc against the Euro, according to SNB director Thomas J. Jordan. Mr. Jordan said the bankâs measures had been effective so far and that the market had taken on board that the authorities were serious about their intentions. Mr. Jordan declared that the bankâs interventions on the foreign exchange markets to weaken the Swiss franc were not to be seen as a âbeggar thy neighbourâ policy or as the beginning of a currency war. The SNB was not trying to create advantages for Switzerland at the expense of other countries. Rather, the aim was to prevent the franc from massive overheating as the crisis unfolded. In a wide-ranging policy speech, Mr. Jordan, one of three members of the SNBâs governing directorate, said the bank had decided to intensify further its medium term liquidity operations. Mr. Jordan also hoisted a warning signal about the unconventional measures the bank had recently introduced and which, he said, were not risk-free. Among those risks were that the effects and side-effects of these measures had not been as well researched as those of conventional monetary tools. The SNB must also be thinking about an effective exit strategy from the unconventional measures when the time came to reduce monetary stimulus. In a sombre assessment of the outlook, Mr. Jordan described the times as âstormyâ. In the medium term, the crisis on the financial markets would worsen because of the sharp downturn of the global economy.