But calming global financial markets – and in the case of Switzerland, countering the heavy wave of safe-haven flows into Swiss francs – has been only one facet of the SNB’s policy response. The unique nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has also caused an unprecedented shock to the real economy. To mitigate this shock, central banks – in cooperation with the fiscal authorities – have created new instruments. The SNB during the COVID-19 crisis: same role, new tools Given the nature of the crisis, an important part of the policy response was to address the strains on the corporate sector, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In Switzerland, 99 percent of all firms are SMEs and they employ some 67 percent of the labour force. The lockdown measures resulted in a sudden stop for many businesses. There was real concern that economically viable SMEs, in particular, could be 1  The US dollar swap basis is an indicator of US dollar funding costs in foreign exchange markets. A large negative basis reflects a scarcity of US dollar funding. Page 3/10  forced into bankruptcy through no fault of their own. To address the problem, the Swiss Federal Council adopted a range of important measures, including the COVID-19 loan programme for companies. To be effective, financial support had to be fast and well targeted.
The Bank assesses all major financial education programmes to evaluate their effectiveness in meeting the intended objectives through a Financial Education Assessment Framework. The Framework, developed in 2013, assesses the impact of financial education programmes on the overall level of financial literacy and on changes in behaviour. Mobile applications have also been introduced to promote more informed financial decisions. These includes applications for personal money management, updates on important consumer news including financial fraud alerts issued by the Bank, and for consumers to make enquiries, obtain advice and raise their complaints with financial institutions. These mobile applications are customised for use in Malaysia and can be downloaded by individuals at no cost. It is envisaged that wider use of these applications will contribute towards enhancing financial competence. The financial education initiatives in Malaysia has been advanced through collaborative efforts by the public and private sectors. Key agencies involved have included the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency, the financial industry, consumer associations and the Employees Provident Fund (which has more than 14 million contributors) to ensure that messages on financial management address all the key issues in savings, debt, BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  investment and protection. These strategies are pursued together with the efforts to promote financial inclusion and to ensure fair treatment of financial consumers. It is important to recognise that the financial industry itself plays a pivotal role in helping consumers improve their financial well-being.