Swiss National Bank loses $3.6 billion in 2023 By Reuters

By John Revill

ZURICH (Reuters) -The National regular securities trading platformsSwiss National Bank posted an annual loss of 3.2 billion Swiss francs ($3.62 billion) for 2023, the central bank said on Monday, as the switch to positive interest rates cost it dearly.

Valuation gains from the SNB's gold holdings and interest paid on the emergency loans granted during the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse could not offset the cost of the central bank pursuing a tighter monetary policy to tackle inflation.

During 2023 the SNB bank made a loss of 8.5 billion francs on its Swiss franc positions, mainly caused by interest paid on the sight deposits it holds for commercial banks overnight.

Profits from the SNB's near 700 billion francs worth of foreign bonds and stocks were also massively shrunk by the appreciation of the Swiss franc during the year.

The 2023 result, which confirmed the SNB's provisional forecast in January, was an improvement from the record 132.5 billion franc loss the central bank posted in 2022.

But it was not enough to allow a dividend payout to shareholders or the Swiss central or regional governments for a second year in a row.

Still, the loss is unlikely to affect monetary policy, with Chairman Thomas Jordan, who announced his departure on Friday, due to announce the latest interest rate decision on March 21.

"I don't believe that not paying dividends will lead to political pressure on the SNB as the success of its monetary policy is so obvious," said Karsten Junius, an economist at J.Safra Sarasin.

"It has brought Swiss inflation back to its target range faster than all other big central banks, clearly fulfilling its mandate."

During 2023 the SNB made a profit of 4 billion francs from its foreign currency positions, and a valuation gain of 1.7 billion francs on the 1,040 tonnes of gold it holds.

It also made a profit of 1.4 billion francs from the emergency loans it granted to ease the takeover of Credit Suisse.

($1 = 0.8828 Swiss francs)

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