Switzerland's central bank sold foreign currency worth 132.9 billion Swiss Francs last year ($149.51 billion), reflecting a heightened focus on bolstering the Swiss Franc as a defence against imported inflation.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said on Tuesday this figure represents a substantial increase from 22.3 billion Francs in foreign currencies sold by the bank the year before, when it began selling off some of its massive foreign currency holdings, and purchases worth 21.1 billion Francs in 2021.

The SNB's strategy has proven successful, with Swiss inflation remaining within its target range of 0-2% for the past nine months, Reuters news agency reports.

"The SNB's foreign currency sales contributed to the Swiss Franc initially appreciating roughly in line with inflation differentials against other countries," the central bank said on Tuesday.

"In doing so, they prevented a weakening of the Swiss Franc in real terms and thus helped in tightening monetary conditions. Towards the end of the year, the inflation rate fell significantly," the SNB went on to add.

In Q4 2023, the Swiss Franc soared 4% against the Euro, reaching its strongest level in almost a decade at the end of last year, Bloomberg reports.

However, since the beginning of this year, it has experienced a significant decline, nearly undoing its quarterly gains against the single currency due to speculation that the SNB might commence interest rate cuts before the middle of the year.

In addition, the central bank stated that it would no longer prioritise foreign currency sales after reaching its objective.  

The upcoming monetary policy decisions are set to be announced on Thursday.