Growth forecast lowered for Swiss economy

Worsening international conditions will have a negative impact on Switzerland’s export-driven economy, prompting the Swiss Economic Institute (KOF) to lower its forecast for this year.

KOF on Wednesday announced it had revised its growth forecast down from 1.6% to 1% for Switzerland’s gross domestic product. However, the latest outlook for 2020 remains virtually unchanged with growth of 2.1%.

“Brexit uncertainty, economic slowdown in China, downturn in the euro area: the Swiss economy is operating in a tough environment,” KOF said in press release.

Real wages are set to grow by 0.4% in 2019, further depressing consumer spending, according to the institute.

Adjusted for inflation, salary levels in Switzerland have fallen over the past two years.

The KOF outlook is in line with forecasts from other economic experts.

The government’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs in its spring forecast adjusted its forecast to 1% from 1.5%, while the independent research institute, BAK Economics, and economists at UBS bank lowered their forecasts to 1.1% and 0.9% respectively for 2019.

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This content was published on Feb 28, 2019 Feb 28, 2019 After some years of steady but low growth, the Swiss economy expanded by 2.5% in 2018 on the back of a positive global situation.

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