ZURICH, June 28 Reuters The Swiss National Bank bought foreign currencies worth 281 million Swiss francs 312.47 million in the first quarter of 2024, it said on Friday, reversing its recent policy of selling forex to strengthen the franc.

The amount of dollars, yen and euros bought contrasted sharply with the 22.7 billion francs in forex sold by the SNB in the OctobertoDecember period.

The SNB declined to comment on Friday about the change in its approach.

In recent quarters the central bank had been selling foreign currencies to prop up the franc and reduce the effect of inflation from more expensive imports.

However, inflation has been within the SNB39;s 02 target range for several months, while the safehaven franc has risen sharply in value against the euro due to concerns about the upcoming French elections.

SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan said earlier this month that the SNB was prepared to intervene in the foreign currency markets to prevent a rapid rise or fall in the franc.

UBS analyst Alessandro Bee described the foreign currency purchases as small and not a signal the SNB would intervene heavily against the franc at the current exchange rates at least.

They hardly bought anything in the first quarter compared to billions they sold in previous quarters, said Bee, who expects the franc to rise to 0.92 versus the euro over the next 12 months.

That39;s not a level that will concern the SNB too much, but if the franc rose to 0.90 versus the euro they could start…