distributed already had to be addressed back then. the following principles were set : the profits should first be used to build up the snb ’ s equity capital and pay a modest dividend to shareholders ; and any remaining profit would go to the public sector, with at least two - thirds accruing to the cantons. while this still essentially applies today, the modalities regarding distributions and building up equity capital have been adjusted over time. i will look at the current solution in more detail presently. the reason why the dividend payments to shareholders are limited, and why the profit distributions accrue to the confederation and the cantons, is that the snb ’ s profits are not the result of how its share capital is used. instead they stem much more from its monopoly on issuing legal tender. the snb generally incurs only minor costs in issuing banknotes and page 2 / 7 handling sight deposits, since manufacturing notes costs only a fraction of their nominal value and sight deposits ordinarily do not bear interest. conversely, the snb for its part mostly does achieve a positive return on the assets it receives in exchange for the banknotes and sight deposits. the snb thus generates profits on average over the long term. however, against the backdrop of very low yields and high upward pressure on the swiss franc, it cannot be taken for granted that the snb will achieve a profit. i will come back to this point in due course. generating profits is in any case not our aim. the federal constitution and the national bank act are quite clear in this respect. they state that we must as an independent central bank pursue a monetary policy that serves the overall interests of the country. conducting a monetary policy that ensures price stability while taking due account of economic developments is therefore our goal, rather than generating a profit or making it possible to pay a distribution. the snb ’ s monetary policy mandate always takes precedence. and there can also be times when we have to accept losses to perform this mandate. the snb ’ s total assets have multiplied since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008 ( slide 1 ). with this larger balance sheet, the earnings potential has increased in absolute terms, but so too has the risk of loss. in fact, given that a large part of the balance sheet growth is attributable to foreign exchange market interventions, the increase in risk exposure has been particularly strong. let me briefly explain why. when expressed in swiss franc terms, our

policy and documents on cooperation with our partners. while the first stage of our program with the imf defined the key task as " maintain macroeconomic, external, and financial stability, in order to strengthen 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches ukraine's capacity on its way to victory ", the second stage focuses on recovery and reconstruction. these words are mentioned in the memorandum with the imf more than 80 times. to achieve this, it is important to switch from anti - crisis measures to forward - looking and balanced policy. for this purpose, we moved from the fixed rate to er managed flexibility. we are cutting our policy rate. gradually, we are easing the fx market restrictions and moving towards our strategic objective : return to inflation targeting. we are returning to normality, and i remain hopeful that we will continue on this path, despite the ongoing war. strong economic recovery requires revival of lending. this is why we prepare our lending revival strategy taking into account war realities, including the need to boost the defense of the country. in conclusion, i would like to emphasize that ukrainian experience shows, that despite the fact that the mandate of a central bank is clearly defined, new challenges make us look for the new ways to fulfill it, and these ways may vary. and the most important insight from the two years of the full - scale war is that we, as central bankers, should learn to take a broader perspective. today it is the 716th day of war in ukraine. during this time, there were 978 air raid alerts in kyiv alone. the number and magnitude of challenges have grown, and their impact extends beyond ukraine. i am convinced, that everyone present at this conference would agree. full - scale, cruel, destructive war of russia against ukraine aggravated the risks of global war, geopolitical fragmentation and deglobalization. it has disrupted the " metabolism " of the financial system. this challenge is global, and a risk to global security and global macrofinancial stability, now and in the future. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches