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Government unveils new round of spending cuts

This content was published on Jun 11, 2004 The latest proposals come less than a year after parliament approved a record SFr3 billion ($2.4 billion) cost-cutting programme. The finance minister, Hans-Rudolf Merz, announced on Friday that the government had set itself the target of doing away with a budget deficit of SFr4.4 billion by 2007. At a news conference in the Swiss capital,…

Spin-offs score in football bonanza

This content was published on Jun 11, 2004 Sales of scarves, team shirts, flags and football stickers are expected to go through the roof. Around 3,000 Euro 2004-related items are being distributed under Uefa licence. Classic items such as Panini stickers and albums first appeared in Swiss kiosks in mid-April, leading to frenetic exchanges in school playgrounds across Switzerland. More than 20 million…

Swiss face EU data challenge

This content was published on Jun 10, 2004 Moves to harmonise the two systems come as part of a new set of bilateral treaties concluded by Switzerland and the EU. “One of the goals of the accord on statistics is to have data which is compatible with that of the European Union, especially in sectors covered by the bilateral treaties,” said Gabriel Gamez…

Richemont reports higher profits

This content was published on Jun 10, 2004 The Swiss group – which includes the Cartier and Montblanc brands – said operating profit rose 14 per cent to €296 million, slightly above market expectations. Analysts said the Richemont results could be taken as an indicator of the health of the luxury goods sector, which is emerging from a three-year recession. Richemont’s earnings in…

Credit Suisse banker arrested in yakuza probe

This content was published on Jun 9, 2004 Authorities in Japan, Switzerland and Hong Kong have been investigating the illegal network, which involves Japan’s biggest yakuza crime syndicate, for several months. A Tokyo police official said Atsushi Doden, 41, was taken into custody hours after he arrived in Tokyo from Hong Kong. Doden is accused of helping the ring set up bank accounts…

Clariant blames Asian competition for job cuts

This content was published on Jun 9, 2004 The company said it had sealed redundancy agreements with workers’ unions at its Muttenz and Reinach plants, which it said had fallen victim to foreign competition. Over the next two years, Clariant will cut some 4,000 jobs worldwide, from a total workforce currently at 28,000. The moves are part of a push to cut costs…

Telecom giants face off in tussle for new customers

This content was published on Jun 8, 2004 Phone giant Swisscom is about to enter the lucrative television market, promising up to 500 channels through its existing fixed line network. This is in response to Cablecom’s increasingly aggressive drive to poach telephone customers from Swisscom and other providers using an emerging digital phone service. On Tuesday the company said it would begin offering…

Jobless rate falls as economy grows

This content was published on Jun 8, 2004 The government said on Tuesday that the creation of 6,245 jobs in a month was a sign of growing employer confidence as the economy gathers steam. The rate stood at 3.8 per cent in May, down from 3.9 per cent the previous month, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). The number of…

Campaign highlights dangers of “dope driving”

This content was published on Jun 8, 2004 The warning comes as more and more motorists in Switzerland are testing positive for the drug. “Over the past few years there has been a significant rise in the number of road offenders who have consumed cannabis,” said Hans-Ulrich Büschi, president of the Road Safety Council. Büschi said latest statistics from the universities of Zurich,…

Pension scheme to benefit from excess gold

This content was published on Jun 8, 2004 Previous plans, including a proposal to spend the proceeds on humanitarian projects, were rejected by Swiss voters two years ago. If the plans are approved by the Senate, the money from the sale of 1,300 tons of excess gold will be kept in a special fund and lead to annual interest payments of SFr450 million…

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