Swiss Central Bank Currency Reserves Rise in April

        ZURICH--The value of Swiss foreign-currency reserves edged up to 438.9 billion Swiss francs ($502.2 billion) in April from CHF437.9 billion in March, central bank data showed Wednesday.
        The currency reserves level is roughly in line with Swiss sight deposits--which were little changed at the end of April from a month earlier--indicating the Swiss National Bank wasn't very active in currency markets.
        Sight deposits, the funds that commercial banks hold with the SNB, can be easily converted into cash.
        The ratio of Swiss foreign-currency reserves to gross domestic product has held around 70% for the past 18 months. Before the financial crisis erupted in 2008, the ratio was less than 10%.
        The SNB imposed a floor on the euro exchange rate in September 2011 after the franc soared to near parity versus the currency of its biggest trading partners, putting pressure on Swiss exporters and the economy.
        At 0704 GMT, the euro-franc was trading at 1.2167.
        Write to Neil MacLucas at neil.maclucas@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        May 07, 2014 03:09 ET (07:09 GMT)