The financing of SNB currency purchases is currently realized by increasing SNB debt to local and international banks and companies, commonly called “money printing”. These loans from banks and companies to the SNB have increased to a total of 371 billion francs at end 2012, by 150 bln. CHF in one single year. Together with the SNB equity and 53 billion of bank notes, sight deposits build up the so-called “monetary base” (sometimes “central bank money” or “base money”), or from the banks’ perspective “reserves”, nearly all of them “excess reserves”. They are used to finance the current total of 485 billion CHF in central bank assets, of which as of end 2013, 8% are in gold.

Read more at: http://snbchf.com/snb/snb-sight-deposits-debt/ | SNB & CHF