Economy of Liechtenstein
The economy of Liechtenstein is based roughly equally on services (especially financial services) and industry, with a small but significant agricultural sector. The country participates in a customs union with Switzerland and uses the Swiss franc as its national currency. It imports more than 85% of its energy requirements. Liechtenstein has been a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) since 1991 (previously its interests had been represented by Switzerland). It also has been a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) since May 1995 and participates in the Schengen Agreement for passport-free intra-European travel.
Swiss National Bank
The Nationalbank made an announcement on 6 September 2011, of its intention to address changes in the value of the Swiss Franc to the Euro. More specifically, that it wanted the value of the Franc to fall below 1.2 to the Euro. A cap was placed on exchange-rates in order to take measures to stem the development of a possible recession. The bank stated the 1.2 exchange value was defendable as the bank could potentially proceed to mint enough banknotes to control the rate sufficiently. The bank announced on January 15, 2015 the Euro currency arrangement would end as the Euro crisis had passed and the Europeans would be making financial policy changes.