CHF

n the second quarter the balance of current transactions in Switzerland showed a surplus of 17.3 billion francs, 3.4 billion less than the same period last year and 7.9 billion more in the first quarter of 2016.

Total revenue reached 143.9 billion, the outputs 126.6 billion, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) reports in a press release today. The balance of goods and services amounted to +19.5 billion, one of the primary revenue up 1.5 billion and that of secondary revenues to 3.7 billion.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) left unchanged its monetary policy: the 3-month Libor remains between -1.25% and -0.25% while the deposit rate is at -0,75%. "The negative interest rate and the SNB’s willingness to intervene in the foreign exchange market are intended to make Swiss franc investments less attractive, thereby easing upward pressure on the currency", the SNB wrote in the note. For 2016 as a whole, the SNB now expects growth of approximately 1.5%.

The institute also reaffirms its intention to remain active on the currency market if necessary. The decision does not represent a surprise: they were expected by all experts polled by Reuters last week.

The high value of the franc is the key for Switzerland to become richer: Reiner Eichenberger, professor of economics at the University of Fribourg, is convinced. "The strong franc creates disadvantages as a production location, but even greater advantages for the consumer: we import more cheaply, so costs go down", explains the specialist in an interview published by the financial portal Cash.

Switzerland does better than expected and accelerate its growth in the second quarter. According to information from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Swiss GDP has in fact recorded an increase of 0.6% on a quarterly basis between April and June and rose 2.0% from the previous year, better than the 0.9% expected, the strongest quarterly growth rate since the end of 2014.

The negative rates of Switzerland (-0.75%), forced down by the Central Bank to protect the franc from dangerous flare-ups against major currencies, are keeping many customers away from banks.

As Helvetia Ag told Bloomberg, keeping the cash in a box at home or at the company, costs, for each million, 1000 francs insurance, instead of one million Swiss francs in the current account has maintained an average annual cost of 7,500 francs for the customers. But the sum doesn’t include the costs of logistics or security sistems.

Negative rates bring more advantages than disadvantages in the Swiss economy. With this motivation Andréa Maechler, management member of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), defends the continuation of the strategy.

"The financial markets expect a further easing of monetary policy in Britain and in the euro zone, and even in the USA the increase in interest rates goes only slowly," she said in the interview published on "SonntagsBlick" on Sunday. SNB currently applies -0.75% rate on deposits stored with the central bank.

Swiss exports in July have progressed by 7.9% to 17.7 billion, and imports by 11.8% to € 14.8 billion. This was announced by the Federal Customs Administration stating that this figure takes into account the fact that in the month under review, there were two working days less than in July 2015.

The Swiss believe that Brexit will have positive consequences for their country, according to the gfs.berne Institute who analyzed 2016 barometer of the concerns of Credit Suisse. The majority of the population considers, in fact, that Switzerland’s position will be strengthened.
"The citizens are perfectly aware that Brexit will have on Switzerland" economic and political consequences, he said in a statement Lukas Golder, co-director of gfs.berne.