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Greenback loses more ground on franc

This content was published on Jan 14, 2008 The view that the US Federal Reserve will drop its main interest rate to ward off a potential recession has weakened the greenback on money markets. The president of the Swiss National Bank, Jean-Pierre Roth, warned this weekend that there were serious concerns about the future of the US economy. According to financial specialists, the…

Merz campaigns for corporate tax breaks

This content was published on Jan 14, 2008 He dismissed criticism that major shareholders would be the main winners if voters approved the reform at the ballot box on February 24. Parliament has approved the reform, but centre-left parties and the trade unions have challenged it to a nationwide vote. Merz said the proposed tax breaks for capital gains and for the restructuring…

Half of start-ups fail after five years

This content was published on Jan 14, 2008 Government statistics reveal that new companies are most likely to succeed in manufacturing than in the service sector as the number of start-ups reached a record level last year. Some 36,427 firms were founded in Switzerland in 2007, up 6.3 per cent on 2006 and the third annual increase in a row. But data from…

National bank chief hints growth may slow

This content was published on Jan 13, 2008 He added that the SNB needed more information before determining future monetary policy. “There are more question marks over the economy than in December, especially concerning the United States economy,” he told the Sonntag newspaper. “There are signs that the situation [there] is deteriorating rapidly.” Roth warned that economic growth in Switzerland could fall below…

Education chief with the drive to succeed

This content was published on Jan 13, 2008 Dell’Ambrogio is one of just a few people from the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino to hold a top position in the federal administration. The 54-year-old has a distinguished career behind him, having been a judge, chief of cantonal police, a university official, a member of the cantonal parliament and mayor. He is also the father…

UBS offers reassurance amid gloomy forecast

This content was published on Jan 11, 2008 Stakeholders at Switzerland’s largest bank will vote on February 27 whether to accept SFr13 billion ($11.8 billion) from Singapore and the Middle East after suffering huge subprime losses. UBS issued a letter to shareholders on Friday explaining why the bank wrote off SFr4.2 billion last October and a further SFr11.3 billion two months later as…

Blind restaurateur honoured

This content was published on Jan 10, 2008 The jury said on Thursday it was won over by Zappa’s “Blind-Liecht” charitable foundation and its innovative gastronomic concept, which involves diners eating in the darkness and being guided through their meals by blind and visually impaired waiters. The “Blind-Liecht” charitable foundation was set up in December 1998 by Zappa, a partially sighted psychologist, with…

Airline carries record number of passengers

This content was published on Jan 10, 2008 This was an increase of 13.2 per cent for the company, founded on the ashes of the former national carrier Swissair in 2002. Now owned by German airline Lufthansa, Swiss saw its seat occupancy rate reach 80.2 per cent, compared with 79.8 per cent in 2006. The increase was registered both on intercontinental and European…

Vintage wines beckon after good harvest

This content was published on Jan 10, 2008 Agricultural services in winegrowing cantons have announced that grape quality was good and sometimes very good. According to the Federal Agriculture Office, more than one million hectolitres (100 litres) of grape juice were produced, slightly more than in 2006, although this figure remains lower than the ten-year average. This total is split almost evenly between…

Astrophysicists see the light

This content was published on Jan 10, 2008 Although doubts have been raised about their measurement method, the development promises to lead to further discoveries as researchers rush to find an Earth-like planet in deep space. In a recently published paper, Svetlana Berdyugina of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and three colleagues announced they had detected light reflected by the atmosphere…

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Greenback loses more ground on franc

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Merz campaigns for corporate tax breaks

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Half of start-ups fail after five years

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National bank chief hints growth may slow

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Education chief with the drive to succeed

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UBS offers reassurance amid gloomy forecast

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Blind restaurateur honoured

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Airline carries record number of passengers

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Vintage wines beckon after good harvest

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Astrophysicists see the light

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