Switzerland had a strong current account surplus in 2019. The reserve assets rose as a consequence of the central bank’s intervention in the currency markets.
Switzerland in 2019 generated a current account surplus of 86 billion Swiss francs ($87.6 billion), 29 billion more than a year earlier, according to a statement relased by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) on Monday.
The increase of the current account surplus was mainly due to the development of primary income – what is known as labor and investment income.
The surplus in goods trade increased by 7 billion francs to 66 billion due to higher goods exports, according to the foreign trade statistics.
Under U.S. Suspicion
The increase in the reserve assets by 16 billion francs seems of particular interest because this increase was due to the central bank's foreign currency purchases.
The SNB this year has accelerated foreign currency purchases to counteract a further appreciation of the franc. Switzerland is one of the countries that the U.S. suggested might fall into the category of currency manipulator.
The Swiss central bank countered such allegations and said it doesn’t undertake any interventions that might harm other countries, but instead acts to prevent the currency swings from harming the Swiss economy.
