Swiss National Bank hits back at ratings agency bond claims
THE SWISS central bank yesterday denied claims from ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) that it distorted bond markets for “core” Eurozone members.
S&P had said that the Swiss National Bank (SNB) bought €80bn worth of bonds from stable “core” Eurozone nations between January and July 2012, effectively funding around half of the deficits in these countries.
But an SNB report hit back, saying that S&P overlooked investments in other countries. “[The report] ignores the sizeable increase of SNB deposits with other central banks and international institutions,” a statement read.
SNB has been buying bonds in an attempt to cap the Swiss franc at €1.20, as investors flee the risks of the Eurozone. It has amassed some SFr418bn (£275.5bn) of foreign currency in this struggle to avoid deflation.