The positions in foreign currencies of the Swiss National Bank (BNS) caused him a loss of 22.7 billion francs in the first half, strongly affecting its overall result. It thus completes the first six months of the year over a negative result of 15.3 billion.
While the first three months had been positive, the situation was clearly deteriorated in the second quarter. The BNS thus went from a profit of 6.68 billion francs in the first quarter to a loss of 21.98 billion between April and June, completely erasing its initial gains.
This prospect had been anticipated by UBS economists. They provided losses between 17 and 27 billion francs for the second quarter.
The impact of the dollar on the BNS accounts
The dollar is largely responsible for this situation: it has distinctly weakened compared to the franc. These exchange movements have also weighed on investments in dollars, while the BNS has around 300 billion francs in American titles. As for gold, also valued in dollars, if it has seen its price fly away, its increase has only limited the damage.
Nevertheless, the dollar is not alone in question. The strength of the franc generally weighs on the results of the BNS in foreign currencies, especially in front of the euro, hence particularly heavy exchange losses: almost 44 billion francs over the first six months of the year.
Cantonal redistributions in question
BNS is not the only one to look gray: these bad results could also have repercussions on the cantons. Cantonal funds could indeed be deprived of the redistribution of part of the BNS profits again.
On Thursday, the BNS recalled in a press release that its result depended mainly on the evolution on the gold, changing and capital markets, which makes such normal fluctuations. It is only difficult to draw conclusions from it for the result of the current exercise, she adds.
Radio subject: KS
Adaptation web: Miroslav Mares/vic