Switzerland’s national budget deeply in the red
The Swiss parliament has approved next year’s national budget which foresees a deficit of CHF6.1 billion ($6.9 billion).
The Senate on Wednesday followed the House of Representatives, agreeing an additional CHF1.5 billion to compensate businesses for loss of income due to the Covid pandemic.
Following several rounds of debates in both chambers over the past two weeks, parliamentarians increased the planned government expenditure by CHF1.65 billion, notably for agriculture, education and rights of the child.
Projected total revenue for 2021 is CHF75.8 billion against just under 82 billion in expenditure.
About CHF6.6 billion are earmarked for various government measures to soften the impact of the Covid crisis.
During the discussions in parliament, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer commented that the Covid crisis ended 15 years of annual surplus in government financesExternal link.
The government hopes to cope without drastic spending cuts in the next few years, he added.
Last year, the national surplus was CHF3.1 billion and the debts totaled CHF96.9 billion – 13.9% of Gross Domestic Product.
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Government boasts (another) surplus year
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