A report presented by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) showed that in the 3rd quarter, foreign currency sales amounted to 37.63 billion francs ($44.73 billion). This is the second largest amount of forex sales since the SNB started publishing its data on its transactions in 2020. However, it is likely to be the last big sell-off for some time, as the ebbing of inflation and rise of the franc has lessened the need for forex sales. According to official data, in November, CPI growth slowed to 1.4% per annum (the lowest value since October 2021) from 1.7% per annum in October. On a monthly basis, the CPI fell 0.2%, following a 0.1% increase in October. Meanwhile, the core rate which excludes volatile items such as unprocessed food and energy, edged down to 1.4% from a prior 1.5%.
The SNB said that the foreign currency sale in the 3rd quarter was a decrease from the record 40.3 billion francs' worth of dollars, euros and other currencies the bank sold in the second quarter.
The SNB had focused on buying foreign currency - to slow the rapid strengthening of the safe-haven franc - until switching to forex sales in the second quarter of 2022. Earlier this week, the EURCHF fell to its lowest level since January 2015 in anticipation of monetary policy easing by the European Central Bank.