Not the job of the SNB to save the planet

Swiss National Bank (c) Badwy

It’s not the job of the Swiss National Bank to save the planet. That’s the message from one of the central bank’s board members, Andrea Maechler.

She says the bank’s mandate is monetary policy goals and needs to maintain flexibility in its investments.

The Swiss National Bank is a major global investor with around a trillion francs under management. The foreign currency reserves built up over years of selling the franc to stem its rise. 

But the bank is not completely blind to the environmental situation. Maechler stressed at an event in Zurich that it doesn’t buy shares in coal mining companies. 

She also points out that its investments in energy companies have dropped from 11% ten years ago to 3% now. But that’s due to changes in their market value. 

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