The Swiss central bank’s currency reserves surged to a record in May as the euro region’s increasing turmoil forced policy makers to step up their defense of the franc floor. Currency holdings jumped to 303.8 billion Swiss francs ($318 billion) at the end of May from 237.6 billion francs in the previous month, according to a statement published on the Swiss National Bank’s website today. Walter Meier, a spokesman at the SNB in Zurich, said by telephone that “a large part� of the increase in reserves was due to currency purchases to defend the minimum exchange rate. The central bank finds itself engulfed by the euro region’s worsening fiscal crisis after Greece’s inconclusive elections last month raised the specter of a breakup. President Thomas Jordan said last month that policy makers are “observing a considerable upward pressure on the franc� as investors shift into havens including the Swiss currency. “It’s quite a significant increase,� said Alessandro Bee, an economist at Bank Sarasin in Zurich. “Of course, the euro crisis is decisive -- if there’s a further worsening, the SNB will be forced to remain active on markets.� The SNB will hold its next monetary assessment on June 14 in Bern. The central bank imposed the currency ceiling of 1.20 versus the euro in September after the franc surged to a record. The currency holdings are calculated according to standards by the International Monetary Fund at the beginning of every month. To contact the reporter on this story: Simone Meier in Zurich at smeier@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net

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