jueves, 4 de diciembre de 2014

jueves, diciembre 04, 2014
Voters reject plan to force Switzerland to stockpile gold

Rejection of 'Save Our Swiss Gold' initiative in referendum gives Swiss National Bank breathing room as it attempts to protect franc against European Central Bank

By James Titcomb

5:11PM GMT 30 Nov 2014

Gold bars from the vault of a bank and Swiss one franc coins are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich
The Swiss National Bank would have to buy 70pc of the world's annual gold output to meet the target Photo: Reuters
 
 
Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected a plan to force the Swiss National Bank to buy thousands of tonnes of gold, giving the SNB breathing space as it attempts to protect the franc against a quantitative easing blitz from the European Central Bank. 
 
Switzerland's government said on Sunday afternoon that 77pc of voters in Sunday’s referendum rejected proposals to make the central bank hold 20pc of its assets in the precious metal. 

This result was a blow to a right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which launched the “Save Our Swiss Gold” campaign in a reactionary backlash against the SNB accumulating hundreds of billions of depreciating euros.
 
In 2011, the central bank introduced a cap meaning that it would not let the euro go below 1.20 francs in order to protect exports. It has continually had to intervene as the eurozone’s economic struggles have forced the single currency into decline.
 
With Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank’s president, cutting interest rates to record low and considering a bout of quantitative easing in early 2015, the euro – and with it, the value of the SNB’s assets – has slid against the pound and dollar.

Roughly half of the central bank’s 522bn franc balance sheet is held in euros, and just 7.5pc in gold. 
 
Sunday’s referendum was triggered after a petition garnered 100,000 signatures. The campaign called for:
 
• The SNB to repatriate all of its gold from overseas
• The central bank to hold 20pc of its reserves in gold
• A ban on the SNB selling any more gold

Based on the SNB’s current balance sheet, it would have to buy more than 1,700 tonnes of gold – 70pc of the world’s annual production – at a cost of around 70bn francs to meet the 20pc target by 2019.




With the prospect of the ECB engaging in full-blown quantitative easing in the coming months, it is possible that the SNB will have to buy up more euros to keep it above the 1.20 franc cap.
 
If this were to be the case, a vote in favour of the “Save Our Swiss Gold” campaign would have meant further gold purchases to maintain the 20pc quota. The sales ban would mean gold making up an increasing proportion of the central bank’s balance sheet when it attempts to shrink its euro holdings.

"The resolute ‘no’ to Switzerland’s referendum on re-building its gold reserves is clearer than expected," said Reto Foellmi, Professor of International Economics at the University of St Gallen.

"The result is certainly due to the fact that the Swiss population is largely confident in the monetary policy pursued by the Swiss National Bank.
 
"It sends a clear sign that there will be no immediate change in Swiss monetary policy."
 
Recent opinion polls predicted that the motion would be defeated, but the price of gold may fall further on Sunday’s confirmation.

Voters also strongly rejected strict limits on immigration that could have threatened Switzerland's relationship with the EU, as well as voting against tax privileges enjoyed by wealthy foreigners.

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