ZURICH, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank (SNB) stepped up its foreign currency sales during the second quarter, the central bank said on Friday, selling 40.3 billion Swiss francs ($44.27 billion) worth of dollars, euros and other currencies.
The sales in three months to the end of June was an increase from the 32.2 billion francs worth of forex sold in the first quarter.
It was the largest sale amount since the SNB started publishing its quarterly forex transactions in 2020, and follows the central bank's strategy of boosting the value of the franc to dampen inflation by lowering the price of imports.
Still analysts expect the SNB to dial back its recent forex sales in the coming months.
With the franc at high levels versus the euro and the dollar, there is less need for further FX sales, said Elias Hafner, a strategist at Zuercher Kantonalbank.
"However, should the CHF clearly weaken, the SNB is prepared to counter this by reducing its balance sheet further, which limits the downside potential to the currency," he said.
UBS analyst Alessandro Bee said the SNB could even switch to buying foreign exchange again to stem the safe-haven currency's rise.
"Swiss manufacturing has come under pressure lately and a further strengthening of the Swiss franc will surely be a further unwelcome drag," he said. ($1 = 0.9103 Swiss francs) (Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Susan Fenton and Anil D'Silva)
