By John Revill ZURICH (Reuters) -The Swiss National Bank posted an annual loss of 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.54 billion) for 2023 on Tuesday, as a result of interest rate hikes designed to combat inflation. Switzerland’s central bank made a loss of 8.5 billion francs from its Swiss franc positions, provisional figures show, largely due to the higher interest rates paid to banks which lodge money with it overnight. The SNB increased its policy interest rate twice in 2023 to 1.75% as it sought to combat inflation, but this led to it paying out more to holders of sight deposit accounts. Although …