(Bloomberg) --
The Swiss National Bank’s sight deposits jumped the most in more than two years last week, a sign it intervened to weaken the franc.
The amount of cash commercial banks hold with the central bank increased almost 2.8 billion francs ($2.87 billion) to 586 billion francs, according to the data, which economists scrutinize closely. Early last week, the Swiss currency appreciated to its strongest against the euro since 2017.
The Swiss franc continued to gain, appreciating 0.1% to 1.0885 per euro on Monday. The currency has advanced more than 4% in the last three months and is now trading near the strongest level since 2017, posing a headache to the central bank.
The SNB declined to comment on the change in sight deposits.
Concerns about the economic impact of the U.S.-China trade dispute and the prospect of more European Central Bank easing have put pressure on the franc. It has appreciated about 5% against the euro since April, blasting through the 1.10 per euro mark.
The SNB has an ultra-low benchmark interest rate of -0.75% plus and has pledged to use currency market interventions, if needed, to stem pressure on the franc.
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