(Bloomberg) -- The Swiss franc weakened to trade at parity with the greenback for the first time since late 2019.

The dollar-franc pair rose as much as 0.6% to 1.0001 on Thursday. The Swiss currency has weakened more than 8% against its US counterpart in 2022.

Risk aversion usually favors the Swiss franc, but the dollar has emerged as the key haven in a more inflationary environment. Traders have been eyeing the rift between the Swiss National Bank, seen as a laggard when it comes to raising interest rates, and the more hawkish Federal Reserve, leaving the franc struggling in recent weeks. 

The SNB has allowed the Swiss franc to strengthen in recent months as a means to combat imported inflation. However, HSBC head of European FX research Dominic Bunning wrote in a recent note to clients that the central bank may now be “more prepared” to intervene to counter that strength given an uptick on speculative as opposed to “real economy” flows and slowing Swiss inflation. 

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