Swiss central bank tries to bring down franc again

The Swiss central bank on Wednesday took fresh measures to halt the rise of the Swiss franc, which is threatening exports and growth, by increasing liquidity after the currency strengthened to new highs. "In the light of these developments, the Swiss National Bank is taking additional measures against the strength of the Swiss franc. It will again significantly increase the supply of liquidity to the Swiss franc money market," the central bank said. At 0712 GMT, the franc was changing hands at 1.0367 to the euro and 0.7225 against the dollar. The central bank said the franc has risen sharply as investors have put their money into the currency, a traditional save haven, to escape the turmoil on world markets. The "substantial rise in risk aversion on the international financial markets has further intensified the overvaluation of the Swiss franc in the last few days," it said. It noted that the strong franc was a threat to the economy, by crimping exports, and pledged to take further measures if the currency continued to strengthen. For now, it was expanding the amount of banks' sight deposits or cash that can be withdrawn without notice from 80 billion francs to 120 billion francs. In addition, it will conduct foreign exchange swap transactions to increase liquidity swiftly. Last week, the central bank also increased liquidity supply and cut the already low benchmark lending rate in a bid to make the franc a less attractive investment.