Switzerlands government will not receive a payout from the Swiss National Bank for 2022, as the central bank projects the biggest loss in its 116-year history, the media reported.
According to preliminary figures released on Monday, the SNB anticipates a yearly loss of approximately 132 billion Swiss francs ($143 billion), which is more than five times the previous record.
According to Bloomberg, the majority of this—131 billion francs—comes from the collapsing valuations of its huge stockpile of foreign currency reserves, which were accumulated as a result of purchases made over a ten-year period in an effort to devalue the franc.
The SNB made roughly 400 million francs on its gold holdings while losing about 1 billion francs on positions valued in Swiss francs.
It is only the second time since the SNB was established in 1906 that it has to skip its yearly payment to the federal government and Swiss cantons, forcing many of the 26 administrative districts to adjust their spending plans, Bloomberg reported.
The institution had distributed 6 billion francs in 2021. There won't be a dividend paid to private stockholders in 2022 either.
The SNB, in contrast to other central banks, is a publicly listed joint stock company, with the remainder of the shares held by businesses and private persons and around half by institutions from the public sector.
The SNB's operations do not affect monetary policy in any way. The deadline date for the final results is March 6.
