The Swiss franc remains super-strong and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) does not seem to mind too much at all. Economists at ING think the EUR/CHF pair is set to move downward in the first half of the year.
SNB seems to welcome FX strength
“Despite continuing to refer to the CHF as ‘highly valued’ and willing to intervene against it, December’s press conference also saw SNB’s Thomas Jordan welcoming CHF strength as a means to limit import prices!”
“Perhaps like Chinese authorities the SNB is happy to ride out the commodity boom with a stronger currency. This suggests there is no EUR/CHF line in the sand for the SNB – or at least based on real exchange rate levels, the line is nearer 1.00.”
“Italian and French politics and Russian tensions could keep EUR/CHF pressured in 1H22. Pricing of 2023 ECB hikes could help later in 2022.”