Pharmaceutical companies and merchanting For some time now, the Swiss current account surplus has primarily been driven by two industries: pharmaceuticals and merchanting. 8 It is notable that net exports for these two industries have increased strongly over the last ten years despite the appreciation of the Swiss franc. This stands in contrast to many industries (e.g. machinery and tourism), which are exchange rate-sensitive and have suffered noticeably as a result of the strong franc. The decline in net exports for these industries has been largely offset by the positive developments in pharmaceuticals and merchanting. Chart 7 presents the nominal change in net exports in selected manufacturing and services industries as well as merchanting from 2007 to 2016. The net exports of goods and of services are represented by the red bars at the bottom of the chart. Net exports of goods went up by CHF 23 billion from 2007 to 2016. As already stated, this increase can mainly be attributed to pharmaceuticals and merchanting. Despite the strong appreciation of the Swiss franc, net exports in both of these industries rose sharply during this period. Why is this? In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has profited from a growing demand for healthcare products from all over the world. The demand for these products is only slightly impacted by the price and/or exchange rate. At the same time, Switzerland has developed into a leading hub in the global commodities trade. Merchanting is also much more dependent on global economic trends than on the exchange rate.
For that reason, our approach to liquidity insurance continues to evolve: •  In November 2014 we extended eligibility for membership of the Sterling Monetary Framework to include broker-dealers and Central Clearing Counterparties (CCPs), giving non-banks access to our permanent liquidity insurance facilities for the first time. •  The range of acceptable collateral continues to extend: we have started to approve pools of auto loans and invoice finance receivables as eligible collateral for the first time. And we have started work to ensure there are no technical obstacles to our ability to accept equities as collateral should the need arise. 4  The Bank introduced US Dollar repo operations in September 2008, and their usage peaked at the equivalent of $ in October 2008. The Bank also provided a peak of $ to RBS via Emergency Liquidity Assistance. 5  The Bank’s commercial paper purchase schemes opened in February 2009 with a peak usage of £ The corporate bond purchase scheme opened in March 2009, with a peak usage of £  6  Plenderleith (2012) and Winters (2012). 7  http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/markets/Pages/sterlingoperations/redbook.aspx. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  •  The Bank will commence work in the second half of 2015 to assess the feasibility of establishing a Shari’ah compliant facility. By providing an additional highly liquid asset for Islamic banks, such a facility would be a significant step forward in their liquidity management capabilities. •  We are continuing to develop our capacity to lend in currencies other than sterling.