The Swiss National Bank turned a profit for the first nine months of the year. But the government shouldn't hold its breath for profit distribution.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reported a profit of 1.7 billion francs for the first three quarters of the year, the central bank announced Tuesday.
Gold Glitters for the SNB
Its profit on foreign currency positions was seven billion francs, while its gold holdings increased 1.1 billion francs in value.
Offsetting those gains was a loss on the SNB's Swiss franc positions of 6.1 billion francs, mainly due to the interest on current account balances of Swiss banks of 5.4 billion francs. Yesterday, the SNB said it would lower conditions for banks.
40 Billion francs Needed
The federal government and the cantons shouldn't be penning SNB profit distributions into their budgets. According to UBS economists, the SNB would have to generate a profit of more than 40 billion francs in the final quarter.
The SNB had reported a mid-year profit of around 15 billion francs.
