The Swiss National Bank recorded a loss for the first time in 116 years of existence

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) ended last year with the biggest loss in its 116 years of existence, the bank said in a statement released Monday, March 6. The after-tax losses of the central bank amounted to 132.48 billion francs (€133.06 billion). For comparison, in 2021, the SNB generated a net profit of 26.3 billion francs (€26.41 billion).

Last year’s result was mainly affected by unfavorable changes in the exchange rate. According to the central bank, the loss of 131.46 billion francs was caused by the depreciation of its assets in foreign currencies, and the position of the Swiss franc also caused a loss of more than 1 billion francs, while a profit of 400 million francs was generated by rise in the price of gold.

The Swiss central bank’s gold reserves stood at 1,040 tons last year, the same as a year earlier.

SNB announced that due to the loss, it will not be able to pay dividends to shareholders for last year and will not be able to transfer money to the Swiss federal budget and the cantonal budget.

Swiss law does not require the central bank to be profitable, its main task is to maintain price stability. However, if the SNB does make a profit, then it passes part of it on to the central government and the 26 cantons.