Swiss National Bank leaves expansionary policy unchanged

Gianluca Colla | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Swiss National Bank (SNB), Switzerland’s central bank, in Bern, Switzerland, on Wednesday, April 18, 2012.

The Swiss National Bank maintained its ultra loose monetary policy on Thursday, citing the “fragile” exchange rate situation.

The SNB kept its target range for the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) at -1.25 to -0.25 percent, as unanimously forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

The central bank also held the negative interest rate it charges on sight deposits at -0.75 percent, adding it remained ready to intervene in the foreign currency markets to block a rise in the Swiss franc.

Both measures have been employed by the SNB to stem investor appetite for the franc over the last three and-a-half years.

The SNB maintained its description of the franc as “highly valued,” and adding despite the currency’s weakening during 2018 the situation on the currency markets was “fragile.”