Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

Maurer (left) has publicly voiced concern over the costs caused the economic lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Keystone/Peter Klaunzer) Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer wants the country’s central bank to contribute to the reduction of the debt caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “I suggest the Swiss National Bank spends the money from an annual surplus to reduce coronavirus-related debts,” he told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper on Wednesday. The central...

© Damir Senčar | Dreamstime.com In Switzerland, around 3% of medical staff have been infected with Covid-19, based on data covering the period up until Easter, according to Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health. The highest rates of infection were among staff in French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland, regions with Switzerland’s highest infection rates. The low rate suggests the Swiss health system has the required material and equipment to protect staff,...

Swiss International Air Lines is a subsidiary of German group Lufthansa. (Keystone / Ennio Leanza) The Swiss aviation sector, including the airlines SWISS and Edelweiss, is set to receive financial aid of almost CHF1.9 billion to help it through the liquidity crisis caused by Covid-19. Some CHF1.275 billion ($1.31 billion) is directly for the two airlines, while up to CHF600 million will be for other companies vital to the functioning of the sector, the government...

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, but motor fuel has grown increasingly scarce in the past year due to US sanctions aimed at ousting President Nicolas Maduro (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Several Swiss companies and banks have found themselves in the line of fire as the United States ramps up pressure on the Venezuelan government. Washington has sanctioned numerous top officials for money laundering and drug...

Some of around 600 cows climb the Glattalp last year, watched by spectators (Keystone) The traditional driving of cows up to mountain pastures for the summer will still take place this year in Appenzell, northeastern Switzerland, despite the coronavirus pandemic. However, the processions will not be publicised so as not to attract tourists and spectators. From the beginning of May to mid-June, farmers march hundreds of thousands of cows from their valley farms to...

© Jan Gajdosik | Dreamstime.com On 29 April 2020, Switzerland’s government announced plans to allow schools and other establishments to reopen on Monday 11 May 2020. From 11 May 2020, shops, restaurants, markets, museums, libraries, primary and lower secondary schools and sports training centres will be allowed to reopen. In addition, public transport will operate according to the standard timetable, announced the government. The easing is conditional on the...

Thanks to technology, journalist Sibilla Bondolfi was able to work in the region that she was researching: the Alps. (swissinfo.ch) A longform report that we published last autumn has been shortlisted for the Swiss Press Award. The nomination is an honour for our team. Can people in Switzerland really live and work wherever they want on account of the digital revolution? Even in the mountains? A longform multimedia report by SWI swissinfo.ch has the answer. Published...

© Marekusz | Dreamstime.com A team of economic experts working for the Swiss government forecasts a 6.7% fall in GDP and unemployment to rise to 3.9% in Switzerland in 2020. If these predictions prove right, it will be the biggest slump in economic activity since 1975. The Covid-19 outbreak has forced many companies in hospitality, retail, culture and leisure to restrict or completely suspend their business activities, triggering an abrupt fall in output and private...

Shoppers bought large amounts of flour at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. At a Migros supermarket in Stans on March 14, 2020 (Keystone / Urs Flueeler) During the coronavirus pandemic, panic buying has not been too problematic in Switzerland. But in previous global crises the Swiss tended to rush to the shops to stock up. Encouraged by the authorities, keeping emergency supplies remains a well-ingrained tradition for Swiss citizens. A week after the First World...

© Kukotaekaterina | Dreamstime.com A study done by researchers at Geneva’s HUG hospital suggests a Covid-19 infection rate of 5.5% across the canton of Geneva. Antibody blood tests, run on a randomly selected sample of the canton’s population, suggest around 27,000 might have been infected by the virus, a number 5.7 times the official count of 4,733 recorded on 24 April 2020. Geneva is Switzerland’s worst hit canton. By 24 April 2020, close to 1% (0.94%) of the...