ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's current account surplus widened to 18 billion Swiss francs (13.74 billion pounds) in the first quarter of 2018, the Swiss National Bank said on Monday, 5 billion francs more than the figure a year earlier.
"This rise was attributable to the higher receipts surplus on trading in non-monetary gold, which is recorded under trade in goods. In the case of services as well as primary and secondary income, the balances remained stable," the SNB said.
Reserve assets recorded a net acquisition of 3 billion francs in the quarter, down from 36 billion francs a year earlier, showing the SNB had dialled back its foreign exchange interventions designed to reduce the value of the Swiss franc.
(Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields)
