The Swiss central bank suffered a loss of 3.2 billion Swiss francs (3.3 billion euros) in 2023, it announced on Monday, confirming that it will not be able to make payments to the Confederation and the cantons .
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) had already given a first indication at the beginning of January, estimating its annual loss at around 3 billion francs, compared to a loss of 132.5 billion francs in 2022.
It publishes the final figures for the 2023 financial year on Monday. This annual loss of 3.2 billion francs results from its positions in Swiss francs, which posted a loss of 8.5 billion francs mainly due to the remuneration of account holdings. transfer, she indicates in a press release.
To combat inflation, the SNB radically changed its monetary policy in 2022 by abandoning the negative interest rate. This applied to the assets that banks and financial institutions are obliged to entrust to it. Until 2022, these assets generated a profit for the Swiss central bank.
With this reversal in its monetary policy, the remuneration of these assets in transfer accounts resulted in a charge of 7.4 billion francs in 2023, she details.
These losses on its franc positions were, however, offset by its positions in foreign currencies and its gold stock.
Positions in foreign currencies generated a profit of 4 billion francs, driven by interest income, indicates the BNS, which relies on a vast portfolio of bonds and shares to carry out its monetary policy.
Its gold stock, which remained unchanged, generated a capital gain of 1.7 billion francs with the rise in the yellow metal, which increased by 3.1% compared to 2022.
The SNB usually pays part of its profit to the Confederation and the cantons. But because of this loss, it will not be able to make these payments for the second year in a row.
These payments represent a financial windfall for the cantons, many having been forced to reduce their budgets.