Make inflation a political priority, say Swiss consumer groups

Meierhans decided to convene the country's first-ever purchasing power summit with consumer protection organisations as the financial burden on consumers has grown with inflation. Keystone / Marcel Bieri

The Swiss price watchdog, Stefan Meierhans, convened a meeting of Swiss consumer organisations in Bern on Tuesday to discuss purchasing power and combating inflation.

“The issue of inflation must become a political priority,” said Sophie Michaud Gigon, director of the federation of consumers for French-speaking Switzerland, at a press conference after the meeting. “We hope that media interest will translate into public and political debate.”

Meierhans said that it was necessary to organise a purchasing power summit, the first of its kind, given the sharp increase in the financial burden on consumers and the sometimes opaque reasons for this development.

The financial worries facing people in Switzerland are increasing. This can be seen, for example, in the growing number of messages sent every day to consumer-protection organisations and the price watchdog, Meierhans pointed out.

The consumer organisations and the price watchdog have agreed to work together in a targeted manner on this issue.

Showing restraint on prices

The participants expect state-owned companies to show restraint when it comes to prices. These include Swiss Post and the Swiss Federal Railways. They also expect an effort to be made by private companies, and banks in particular. 

“When interest rates were low, [the banks] got very creative in levying new bank fees, especially for closing accounts. Now the tables have turned and interest rates have risen. We are calling on the banks to reverse these bank fees”, said Sara Stalder of the German-language consumer-protection organisation.

Health insurance costs are another priority issue. “We are calling for a freeze on premium increases until the reforms currently on the table are implemented,” said Gigon, especially as increases are also expected in the energy sector and price increases are already having an impact on the middle class.

New meeting in early 2024

The organisations also called for greater transparency on prices and profit margins, particularly in the food and energy sectors. “We also expect politicians to act swiftly and decisively to break the deadlock on price reforms” in these sectors, as well as in the health sector, the consumer organisations said.

The summit participants have scheduled another meeting for early next year, at which representatives from business will be invited to participate, said Meierhans.

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