SNB Chairman says the CHF exchange rate remains a challenge for the Swiss economy, but the real franc has been broadly stable since 2020

SNB rhetoric on the franc has historically served as the opening move of a familiar sequence: verbal expression of concern, then tolerance thresholds tested in EUR/CHF, and only thereafter, in past episodes, balance-sheet action through foreign currency purchases or, in the defining episode of the genre, a formal floor later abandoned with violent repricing. The pairing of 'challenge for the economy' with 'real franc broadly stable' is the bank's standard two-handed framing: the nominal level pinches exporters and import-price inflation, while the real qualifier signals that the bar for intervention is not currently met, since the SNB has conventionally justified action on overvaluation grounds rather than competitiveness alone. The transmission channel is the policy mix rather than rates: with Swiss rates low, the marginal tools are sight-deposit growth and the inflation print, and a soft CPI outcome tends to strengthen the case for leaning against appreciation. The tell is any shift from 'real stability' language toward 'overvalued' or 'disproportionate', which in comparable commentary cycles has preceded more active FX operations. As chairman remarks rather than a decision, the signal is directional and the follow-ons are the next quarterly assessment and the sight deposit data.