Amid debt fears, investors look to Switzerland for safety
Stacey Vanek-Smith: Investors do seem to be exploring their options a bit –they’re pouring money into the Swiss Franc. The BBC’s Imogen Foulkes has more.
Imogen Foulkes: Switzerland may be a small country, population just short of 8 million, but it’s also traditionally a very stable one. The Franc has risen 30 percent over the dollar over the last year. Foreign exchange specialist Richard Driver from Caxton FX says traders see the franc as the safest bet around.
Richard Driver: The appeal of the dollar and the yen is really taken a downturn. And the Swiss franc is the obvious alternative to those two, and to those investors who want to keep money in Europe but don’t want to go for the Euro because there’s a genuine chance of a total collapse of the Euro Zone.
Foulkes: But a strong currency has its downside. Switzerland’s twourism ind is suffering. Foreign visitors are staying away, while the Swiss are neglecting their own resorts in favor of cheap holidays abroad.
In Switzerland, I’m the BBC’s Imogen Foulkes for Marketplace.
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