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On 16 December 2020, Switzerland’s Council of States, the nation’s upper house, accepted a 2021 budget deeply in the red following its acceptance last week by the National Council. © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.comIn 2021, Switzerland’s federal government plans to collect CHF 75.8 billion while spending CHF 81.9 billion, plunging the budget CHF 6.1 billion into the red. The pandemic has significantly increased spending. Spending in 2021 is expected to be 8.8% higher than in 2020 and the...

Switzerland’s health system is rated highly by the public, according to the latest survey conducted in eleven countries by the Commonwealth Fund Foundation. © Alexey Novikov | Dreamstime.comEvery 3 years, the Foundation conducts a survey of the general population in eleven countries to investigate experiences of the health system. 88% of the 2,284 people surveyed across all of Switzerland rated the overall performance of Switzerland’s health system as good or very good. These results...

Every three months the benchmark interest rate used to set Swiss rents is reviewed. If it goes down some renters can request a decrease in rent. This time it remained at 1.25%. © Sergei Razvodovskij | Dreamstime.comThe last time it dropped was March 2020 when it fell from 1.5% to 1.25%, its lowest level since the measure began in 2008. The rate is based on the average Swiss mortgage rate over three months. This rate is then rounded to the nearest 0.25%. On 30 September 2020 that rate...

Over the third quarter of 2020, home prices in Switzerland rose by an average of 0.2%. However, the prices of some homes rose while others fell. © Sergey Dzyuba | Dreamstime.comAccording to figures published by Switzerland’s federal statistical office, the price of individual houses rose 1.1% while the price of apartments fell by 0.6%. The price rise for individual houses was particularly high in suburban areas near large cities (+2.6%) and in rural communes (+2.2%). Apartments in...

This week, Easyjet announced its first ever annual loss of nearly £1.3 billion, its only loss in 25 years of operating. © Dennis Dolkens | Dreamstime.comAs Covid-19 grounded the airline’s planes, revenue disappeared. Revenues for the year to 30 September 2020, were reduced to £3 billion, only 47% of the £6.4 billion earned the year before. Costs were cut by £1.7 billion from £6.0 billion to £4.3 billion, a drop of 28%. However, this was not enough to cover the £3.4 billion fall in...

This week, Switzerland’s federal government decided to increase aid money to Covid hit businesses to CHF 1 billion. © Mcxas | Dreamstime.comBefore this announcement, Bern had already committed to providing CHF 400 million to struggling businesses. Funding for the first CHF 400 million is split 50-50 between cantonal and federal tax payers. The additional CHF 600 million will be funded 80% out of the federal tax pot and 20% out of cantonal tax revenues. This means in aggregate 68% of...

Between the 3rd quarter 2019 and the 3rd quarter 2020, the number of people employed in Switzerland fell by 0.4% (–21 000). In addition, weekly hours worked per employee decreased by 2.7%. © Ginasanders | Dreamstime.comDuring the same period, the unemployment rate in Switzerland as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) increased from 4.6% to 5.3%. At the end of September 2020, 260,000 workers were without work, an increase of 35,000 compared to the same date in 2019....

Swiss cantons have very different tax bases, tax rates and costs. To even things up rich cantons are required to help those with less money via a system set up in 2008 known as the péréquation financière nationale (French) or Nationaler Finanzausgleich (German). Zug pays the most – © Avkost | Dreamstime.comThis week, the government decided on next year’s payments. The system relies on complicated formulae based on the tax and cost bases of each canton. In 2021, the top three payers...

Public worker absenteeism in Geneva costs at least CHF 285 million, according to Heidi.news, which calculated the sum based on information contained in an internal document. © Lauvergnat Laurent | Dreamstime.comAccording to the news service the cost of absenteeism, which continues to rise, is equivalent to 11% of the 2.54 billion spent public sector workers’ salaries in 2019 and 3% of the canton’s total public sector spending that year. This is the first time that such information has...

Land use is strictly governed in Switzerland. However, a new initiative, which aims to increase construction restrictions further, recently gathered enough signatures to qualify for a a popular vote. © Dnaveh | Dreamstime.comThe initiative, dubbed the countryside initiative, was officially registered after gathering 104,487 valid signatures, more than the 100,000 that must be collected within 100 days to qualify for a referendum. The federal law on land management (LAT/RPG), an earlier...