The United States Department of the Treasury, the Swiss Federal Department of Finance, and the Swiss National Bank have announced their intention to continue close consultations on macroeconomic and foreign exchange issues. These discussions will take place within their ongoing Standing Macroeconomic and Financial Dialogue.
Both countries reaffirmed their commitments under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Articles of Agreement not to manipulate exchange rates or the international monetary system in order to avoid proper balance of payments adjustments or to seek an unfair competitive advantage.
According to a joint statement, "The Swiss National Bank reconfirmed its commitment that its monetary policy will remain oriented towards maintaining appropriate monetary conditions to safeguard price stability and will not target exchange rates for competitive purposes. The United States reconfirmed its G7 commitment that fiscal and monetary policies will remain oriented towards meeting respective domestic objectives using domestic instruments and will not target exchange rates for competitive purposes. There is a shared view that intervention in foreign exchange markets is considered as a tool equally appropriate for addressing excessively volatile or disorderly depreciation or appreciation."
The statement also noted that both governments agree macroprudential or capital flow measures should not be used to target exchange rates competitively. Additionally, federal government entities such as pension funds investing abroad are expected not to aim at influencing the exchange rate for competitive reasons.
Transparency remains a priority in these agreements. Both countries renewed their understanding regarding public disclosure practices: "any foreign exchange intervention operations on at least a quarterly basis; foreign exchange reserves data and forward positions according to the IMF’s Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity on a monthly basis; and the currency composition of foreign exchange reserves on a quarterly basis."
This approach reflects ongoing cooperation between Switzerland and the United States concerning financial stability and transparent management of currency matters.
