ZURICH (Reuters) -The Swiss National Bank, the Swiss Finance Ministry and the U.S. Treasury Department have reconfirmed that they do not target exchange rates for competitive purposes.
In a joint statement, Switzerland and the U.S. both said they did not use exchange rates to win an unfair advantage or prevent adjustments to their balance of payments.
A joint statement “confirms that foreign exchange market interventions are an important monetary policy instrument for the SNB in ensuring appropriate monetary conditions and thus meeting its statutory mandate with respect to price stability,” the SNB said on Monday.
The SNB has regularly denied being a currency manipulator after the United States added Switzerland to a list of countries being monitored for unfair currency and trade practice in June.
UBS economist Maxime Botteron said the SNB had not intervened significantly in forex markets in May to July, after the franc remained steady against the euro.
Although the dollar weakened considerably against the franc this year, this was part of a broader sell-off of the U.S currency, which was not considered undervalued and was a less important factor for Swiss inflation.
SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel said last week that the central bank has held “intensive” consultations with U.S. authorities, stressing the bank was focused on its inflation target.
“We never intervene in order to prevent adjustments in the current account balance or to give Swiss companies an unfair advantage,” Schlegel told reporters.
(Reporting by John RevillEditing by Dave Graham and Miranda Murray)
