The Swiss franc slipped against the euro on Friday ahead of Swiss producer and import price data for March that could shed light on the need for further interest rate hikes in Switzerland to fight off inflation.
The Swiss National Bank has repeatedly voiced concern that the weak franc might lead to imported inflation but the effect has yet to show up in the data. The franc was 0.1 percent lower at 1.6409 per euro, after it had pulled away from the recent 8-1/2 year low at 1.6467 per euro during the last sessions.
The franc was nearly unchanged versus the dollar at 1.2051 per dollar. Swiss import and producer price inflation, which is expected to tick up to an annual rate of 2.3 percent in March, is crucial for the assessment of the overall inflation outlook and the SNB's monetary policy.