SNB: foreign exchange reserves dropped, second month in a row

The foreign exchange reserves held by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) fell slightly in January, down from 1.6 billion to 643.7 billion, compared with the December figure of 645.3 billion. This is the second consecutive decline, after eight months on the rise.

The set of reserves, excluding gold, increased 651.1 bn to 649.4 bn swiss francs, as the institute said today.

In December, foreign exchange reserves had contracted in a similar manner, to 2.4 billion. Also last February the reserves recorded a decline (-4 billion), while in the other months of 2016 there had been an increase, even double-digit in January (+16 billion), April (+11), May (+14) , August (+11) and November (+18).

The SNB expects for 2016 a net profit of 24 billion francs while closed with a loss of 23.3 billion francs the previous year.

In this period the dollar depreciated, from 1.0180 francs at the end of December to 0.9880 Swiss francs in late January. The euro exchange rate has moved rather less, from 1.0723 to 1.0683 francs.