Switzerland In Focus - Discover Switzerland: Experience the Best of Switzerland - page 560

“Given its overwhelming beauty, it's natural that the
Swiss are mad about their land.”
Grindelwald ( Click here )
SIEGFRIED EIGSTLER / GETTY IMAGES ©
Victim of its own Success: Franc
Matters
Peaceful and prosperous, safe and sound, a magnet for the rich and a safe haven for
wealth: this privileged land of quality living and global finance, of outdoor magnificence
and Alpine aesthetic, found itself the victim of its own success in 2011. The Swiss franc,
long recognised as one of the world's most stable currencies, had become so overvalued it
was threatening the traditionally robust Swiss economy. So strong was the franc that
Swiss exports were falling along with the number of incoming tourists as price-conscious
visitors from abroad suddenly realised just how much a cup of coffee in Switzerland was
going to cost them. Even the Swiss were abandoning their local shops and hopping across
the border into cheaper France, Germany and Italy to do their weekly shop. So the Swiss