Swiss National Bank


The Swiss National Bank is the central bank of Switzerland, headquartered in Berne and Zurich. The Swiss National Bank is responsible for designing and implementing the Swiss monetary policy. The main objective of the Swiss National Bank is to maintain price stability, while facilitating strong economic growth. The SNB is the only Swiss institution issuing the official banknotes in the country. The bank is responsible for the Swiss foreign exchange and gold reserves. The Swiss National Bank promotes stable financial system, and it works closely with other Swiss financial institutions to ensure smooth functioning of the nation payment and settlement system. Switzerland has a long-standing tradition in banking and excellent reputation for superior banking services.

SNB Monetary Policy

The Swiss National Bank is entirely responsible for the national monetary policy. The main goal of SNB is to sustain stable prices avoiding both inflationary and deflationary price shocks. The bank target is to keep inflation of less then 2% annually in medium to long term. To achieve price stability the Swiss National Bank controls the money supply in the economy, by influencing short-term loan interest rates. The SNB also takes in consideration the economic conditions in the country and worldwide when formulating it’s monetary policy.

Financial System Stability

The financial stability of the Swiss financial system is very important for the overall health of the economy, that’s why one of the main goals of SNB is to ensure that the Swiss financial system functions smoothly and is not threatened. The Swiss National Bank monitors and analyzes all Swiss financial markets in order to detect condition that threaten the integrity of the system. It also supervises the Swiss payment and settlement systems. The Swiss National Bank may act as a lender of last resort to Swiss banks having liquidity/solvency problems.

Swiss Banknotes and Coins

The Swiss National Bank is the sole issuer of banknotes in Switzerland. The bank provides the Swiss economy with banknotes and coins, and is responsible for exchanging of damaged banknotes and coins. The Swiss franc has long been considered to be a great store of value, due to the independence of Switzerland and the strong banking system the country has.


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