First published: The Financial Times, 16/01/15
With the shock abandonment of the currency peg, history is repeating itself
Switzerland is not known normally for jolting the global financial system — but that is what it has done, and without warning. It has abandoned a self-imposed peg of the Swiss franc against the euro, introduced in 2011, and lowered the already negative interest rate on deposits from minus 0.25 per cent to minus 0.75 per cent.
In the wake of Thursday’s announcement, the Swiss franc soared against the euro by almost 40 per cent, though this gain was subsequently halve.
So let us put the action of the Swiss National Bank into context; what was the aim and what is its significance?….“more:”
