Parliament has approved a budget with spending of SFr64.1 billion ($68.49 billion) for 2012, a 1.7 per cent increase on 2011.
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Revenues are expected to increase by 2.4 per cent, having benefited from a SFr634 million windfall from auctioning off mobile telephone licenses. The budget will be more or less balanced with the deficit expected to come in at just SFr14 million.
As part of the budget planning, parliament rejected an increase in direct agriculture subsidies over the SFr2.18 billion foreseen by the government.
But dairy farmers had a win, obtaining an additional SFr29.2 million – bringing the total package for milk producers to SFr298 million – to maintain a 15 centime per kilogramme subsidy for milk made into cheese.
A proposal to cut the public sector staff budget by SFr300 million was rejected.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.