Bern: The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reported its largest yearly loss of $143 billion (132 billion Swiss francs) in its 115-year existence on Monday as collapsing equity and fixed-income markets reduced the value of its share and bond portfolio, News Agency Reuters reported. Another unfavourable factor was the Swiss currency’s steady rise.
The preliminary figure released on Monday, which represented a turnaround from a 26 billion franc profit in 2021, was significantly higher than the previous record loss of 23 billion francs recorded in 2015.
On March 6, the SNB will present comprehensive yearly results.
The more than 800 billion francs in stocks and bonds it purchased during a protracted drive to devalue the Swiss franc resulted in a loss of 131 billion francs on its foreign exchange positions.
Last year, when central banks all around the globe, including the SNB, increased interest rates to fight inflation, global stock markets declined and bond prices plunged.
Exchange rate losses were caused by the strong Swiss franc, which in July surged above parity against the Euro.
