Swiss government says backs SNB efforts to weaken franc

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss government supports efforts by the country's central bank's to weaken a "strongly overvalued" Swiss franc, which is likely to keep growth very weak in the quarters ahead but not trigger a sudden economic crisis, it said on Wednesday. The Swiss National Bank took the unusual step on Monday to publicly confirm it had intervened to weaken the franc to rein in a currency whose strength amid Greece's debt crisis is hamstringing an export-reliant economy. The government said in a statement that stable domestic demand and an expected upturn in euro zone export markets should prevent a slide into crisis, but it was aware of significant risks to the economy, for instance from "Greece's uncertain future". (Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Katharina Bart)