Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: What currency is used in Switzerland?
The franc (German: Franken, French and Romansh: franc, Italian: franco; sign: Fr. or SFr.; code: CHF) is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the federal mint Swissmint issues coins.
The official currency of Switzerland is the Swiss franc (CHF). The motifs used are:
Currently, the members of the Eurozone include Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland use their currencies (Croatian kuna, Czech koruna, Hungarian forint, Polish złoty), but are obliged to adopt the Euro. Switzerland uses its own currency, Swiss franc.
Banking in Switzerland Economy of Switzerland Hard currency Iraqi Swiss dinar, a common name for the old Iraqi currency but not related to Swiss currency. Liechtenstein franc Gold standard List of currencies in Europe
The Swiss franc (ISO code: CHF or 756), which appreciated significantly against the new European currency from April to September 2000, remains one of the world's strongest currencies, worth today around five-sixths of a euro. The Swiss franc is used in Switzerland and in Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein retains the ability to mint its own currency, the Liechtenstein franc, which it does from time to time for commemorative or emergency purposes.
The pound sterling, used by the United Kingdom, is rated at fourth on Investopedia's list of the top 8 most tradable currencies, saying that it is a "little bit more volatile than the euro". It was ranked just ahead of the Swiss franc, ranked fifth, which is used in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, saying that the set up of the Swiss banking "emphasizes the economic and financial stability policies dictated by the governing board of the SNB". Both are in the top 8 major currencies on Bloomberg. Several countries use currencies which translate as "crown": the Czech koruna, the Norwegian krone, the Danish krone, the Icelandic króna, and the Swedish krona.
As investor confidence in the global economic outlook fell in early August, Bloomberg suggested the currency war had entered a new phase. This followed renewed talk of a possible third round of quantitative easing by the US and interventions over the first three days of August by Switzerland and Japan to push down the value of their currencies.
Switzerland's trade was blockaded by both the Allies and by the Axis. Each side openly exerted pressure on Switzerland not to trade with the other. Economic cooperation and extension of credit to the Third Reich varied according to the perceived likelihood of invasion, and the availability of other trading partners. Concessions reached their zenith after a crucial rail link through Vichy France was severed in 1942, leaving Switzerland completely surrounded by the Axis. Switzerland relied on trade for half of its food and essentially all of its fuel but controlled vital trans-alpine rail tunnels between Germany and Italy. Switzerland's most important exports during the war were precision machine tools, watches, jewel bearings (used in bomb sights), electricity, and dairy products. Until 1936, the Swiss franc was the only remaining major freely convertible currency in the world, and both the Allies and the Germans sold large amounts of gold to the Swiss National Bank. Between 1940 and 1945, the German Reichsbank sold 1.3 billion francs worth of gold to Swiss Banks in exchange for Swiss francs and other foreign currency, which were used to buy strategically important raw materials like tungsten and oil from neutral countries. Hundreds of millions of francs worth of this gold was monetary gold plundered from the central banks of occupied countries. A total of 581,000 francs' worth of "Melmer" gold taken from Holocaust victims in eastern Europe was sold to Swiss banks. In total, trade between Germany and Switzerland contributed about 0.5% to the German war effort and did not significantly lengthen the war.
The Swiss franc is also the currency used for administrative and accounting purposes by most of the numerous international organisations that are headquartered in Switzerland.
Centime (from ) is French for "cent", and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries (including Switzerland, Algeria, Belgium, Morocco and France).
The WIR Bank, formerly the Swiss Economic Circle (German: "Wirtschaftsring-Genossenschaft"), or WIR, is an independent complementary currency system in Switzerland that serves businesses in hospitality, construction, manufacturing, retail and professional services. WIR issues and manages a private currency, called the WIR Franc, which is used in combination with the Swiss Franc to generate dual-currency transactions.
Unlike other emerging economies, China has so far chose to continue holding its currency down against the dollar, fighting inflation instead with interest rate rises. The rate rises cause even greater pressure from the markets for a currency appreciation, and to prevent this, at least in the months leading up to early 2011, China had to buy dollar assets at a faster rate than ever.
In May, Alan Beatie for the "Financial Times" suggested that the Currency War was not over, it had merely entered a lull, with the underlying tensions still unresolved.
In July 2011, Guido Mantega told the "Financial Times" that the struggle between China and the US was still ongoing, suggesting that several emerging economies including Brazil were still experiencing undesirable upwards pressure on their exchange rates.
As investor confidence in the global economic outlook fell in early August, Bloomberg suggested the currency war had entered a new phase. This followed renewed talk of a possible third round of quantitative easing by the US (QE3) and interventions over the first three days of August by Switzerland and Japan to push down the value of their currencies.
Currency counters are commonly used in vending machines to determine what amount of money has been deposited by customers.
During colonial times, the currency used in what is now Indonesia was the Netherlands Indies gulden.[7] The country was invaded in 1942 by Japan, which began printing its own version of the gulden, which remained in use until March 1946.[8][9] The Netherlands authorities and the Indonesian nationalists, who were fighting for independence, both introduced rival currencies in 1946 with the Dutch printing a new gulden, and the Indonesians issuing the first version of the rupiah on 3 October 1946.[10][9] Between 1946 and 1950 a large number of currencies circulated in Indonesia, with the Japanese gulden still remaining prevalent alongside the two new currencies and various local variants.[9] This situation ended when the federal government, now in complete control following the Dutch recognition of its independence, initiated currency reforms between 1950 and 1951.[9] The rupiah was declared the sole legal currency, with other currencies being exchanged for rupiah at rates which were often unfavourable to the holders.[9]
One of the countries that most called out as a currency manipulator is China. A decade ago, most economists agreed that China’s currency was undervalued, but whether it can be labelled as a currency manipulator depends on the used criteria. For example, conclude that China’s currency intervention policies are not in international law, i.e. Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and both the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In an analysis of "The Economist", it appeared that countries such as Taiwan and Switzerland have been manipulating their currency more than China since 2009 and Germany and South Korea since 2014. The assessment is based on the following methodology: “Using the current-account metric, we award one “manipulation point” to countries with surpluses at the 3% threshold, two points to economies with surpluses at 6% of GDP, and so on. Similarly, we award one manipulation point for each 2% of GDP spent buying foreign assets to depress the value of its currency.” This shows that from an international perspective (instead of a U.S. perspective), China has not been the major currency manipulator since 2009.
According to the Peterson Institute, there are four groups that stand out as frequent currency manipulators: longstanding advanced and developed economies, such as Japan and Switzerland, newly industrialized economies such as Singapore, developing Asian economies such as China, and oil exporters, such as Russia. China's currency intervention and foreign exchange holdings are unprecedented. It is common for countries to manage their exchange rate via central bank to make their exports cheap. That method is being used extensively by the emerging markets of Southeast Asia, in particular.
States that ratify the Convention agree to criminalise the creation, use, and exportation or importation of counterfeit currency. Under the agreement, no distinction is to be made as to what currency is the subject of the crime. Under the treaty, currency counterfeiting is an extraditable offence. States also agree to establish a central office that will forward to all other state parties cancelled specimens of their state's currency and notify the other states when changes to their currency are implemented.
In addition to requiring a certain stage, each human item or alien class must be purchased using currency earned in game. The aliens are awarded "frags" for killing their foes which may be used to evolve (these points are commonly called "evolution points" or "evos" by players). The Humans gain "credits". Players earn currency by killing enemy players or by destroying enemy spawn or power structures ("Reactor" and "Overmind"); the amount of received currency depends on what class the opponent was (or what structure was destroyed) and how much of the target's total damage was dealt by the killing player. As a mechanism to encourage builders, who naturally don't engage in combat, players are also rewarded currency every two minutes by simply staying alive.
The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein and also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein (the sole legal currency is the euro), it is in wide daily use there; with many prices quoted in Swiss francs. The Swiss franc is the only version of the franc still issued in Europe.
Complementary currencies describe a wide group of exchange systems, currencies or scrips designed to be used in combination with standard currencies or other complementary currencies. They can be valued and exchanged in relationship to national currencies but also function as media of exchange on their own. Complementary currencies lie outside the nationally defined legal realm of legal tender and are not used as such. Rate of exchange, scope of circulation and use in combination with other currencies differs greatly between complementary currency systems, as is the case with national currency systems.
Some complementary currencies incorporate value scales based on time or the backing of real resources (gold, oil, services, etc.). A time-based currency is valued by the time required to perform a service in hours, notwithstanding the potential market value of the service. Another type of complementary monetary systems is the barter, an exchange of specific goods or services is performed without the use of any currency.
In 1798, when Switzerland was politically unified by the French under the Helvetic Republic, a unified currency was needed to standardise the widely differing currencies of the so-far sovereign Swiss states (up to then about 860 different coins had been used in Switzerland). A new Swiss franc based on the Berne thaler was introduced, in which 10 rappen made one batzen, 10 of which in turn formed one franc. This unified coinage was struck for five years only, until the end of the Helvetic Republic in 1803. However, many of the newly independent Cantons of Switzerland now minted their own, localised versions of decimal franc, batzen, and rappen currencies, until Switzerland was again politically unified in 1848 and the modern Swiss franc was issued to replace the local currencies in the Federal Coinage Act of 1850.
McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred to as the "McDonaldization" of society. "The Economist" newspaper uses the "Big Mac Index": the comparison of a Big Mac's cost in various world currencies can be used to informally judge these currencies' purchasing power parity. Switzerland has the most expensive Big Mac in the world as of July 2015, while the country with the least expensive Big Mac is India (albeit for a Maharaja Mac—the next cheapest Big Mac is Hong Kong).
Switzerland's most important exports during the war were precision machine tools, watches, jewel bearings (used in bombsights), electricity, and dairy products. During World War Two, the Swiss franc was the only remaining major freely convertible currency in the world, and both the Allies and the Germans sold large amounts of gold to the Swiss National Bank. Between 1940 and 1945, the German Reichsbank sold 1.3 billion francs worth of gold to Swiss Banks in exchange for Swiss francs and other foreign currency.
On 15 February, a statement issued from the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Moscow affirmed that Japan would not face high level international criticism for its planned monetary policy. In a remark endorsed by US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, the IMF's managing director Christine Lagarde said that recent concerns about a possible currency war had been "overblown". Paul Krugman has echoed Eichengreen's view that central bank's unconventional monetary policy is best understood as a shared concern to boost growth, not as currency war. Goldman Sachs strategist Kamakshya Trivedi has suggested that rising stock markets imply that market players generally agree that central bank's actions are best understood as monetary easing and not as competitive devaluation. Other analysts have however continued to assert that ongoing tensions over currency valuation remain, with currency war and even trade war still a significant risk. Central bank officials ranging from New Zealand and Switzerland to China have made fresh statements about possible further interventions against their currencies.
For statistical purposes, Switzerland is subdivided into seven regions at the NUTS-2 level:
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848.