BLBG: Swiss Franc Fluctuates as Central Bank Refuses Irish Bonds as Collateral
The Swiss franc fluctuated against the euro after Switzerland’s central bank said it won’t take some of Ireland’s government bonds as collateral.
The franc was near its weakest level in a week against the common currency. The Swiss National Bank won’t take Irish debt due to be repaid between 2011 and 2025, according to its website.
“The dominant theme is still that the Swiss franc is, and remains, a safe haven,” said Thorsten Polleit, chief economist for Germany at Barclays Capital in Frankfurt. “As long as investor uncertainty remains high and there’s a risk of a reemergence of the sovereign debt problems within the euro area I think investors will keep flocking to the Swiss franc.”
The Swiss currency strengthened 0.4 percent to 1.2570 per euro before trading at 1.2610 as of 12:47 p.m. in London. It was 0.6 percent weaker at 95.39 centimes per dollar.
The franc strengthened last year as investors sought the perceived safety of the currency amid the euro region’s worsening sovereign-debt crisis. It gained 7.8 percent over the past year, according to Bloomberg correlation-weighted currency indexes.
To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net