Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

In 207 the low-lying areas of Bolivia’s amazon were flooded after heavy rains ravaged the country.  (Keystone/Martin Alipaz) People began growing manioc and squash much earlier than previously thought, a team of researchers led by the Swiss university of Bern has found. A study shows that the earliest human inhabitants of Moxos plains began transforming the tropical savanna eco-region in Bolivia 10,000 years ago, that is 8,000 earlier than previously thought. They...

Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter. (Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle) The Swiss government is examining plans to stave off bankruptcies of companies struggling with the fallout of the coronavirus crisis. But regular debt collection procedures will resume on April 20. Justice Minster Karin Keller-Sutter said the aim was to stabilise the economy and to secure jobs. “It is key for the government to prevent or keep to a minimum job losses and bankruptcies,” she told...

© Arseniy Rogov | Dreamstime.com The number of new recorded Covid-19 cases is slowing in Switzerland. By 8 April 2020 the total number of recorded cases was 23,574 according to Switzerland’s health authority. Comparing the number of new cases on day to day basis can be misleading, particularly over the weekend when counting is sometimes interrupted. However, if the numbers are smoothed and compared on a week by week basis these counting timing distortions are less...

Best of neighbours: the HQs of UBS and Credit Suisse in Zurich. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Switzerland’s two largest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, have asked shareholders to accept a delay of several months for half of their dividend payments this year. The move follows a request from the financial regulator to hold on to more cash during the coronavirus pandemic. Both banks now want to split the distribution of dividends, each worth hundreds of millions of francs,...

Workshops and studios for textile design, object design, jewellery design and graphic design are eligible for emergency funding (Keystone) People who work in the cultural sector in Switzerland can now apply for funds to cushion the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Swiss government last month adopted a package of measures totalling CHF280 million ($287 million). On Monday the Federal Office of Culture explainedexternal link how the money is to be divided up:...

On April 3, the Swiss government doubled its coronavirus emergency loan scheme to CHF40 billion after being flooded by requests for help by businesses. The Swiss government should scale up its efforts to help businesses overcome the coronavirus crisis, according to the director of the KOF Swiss Economic Instituteexternal link. Transport companies are also calling for more assistance. “If many companies are over-indebted after the crisis, they will not invest for...

An empty restaurant in Lucerne on March 20 (Keystone) The coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed the economic outlook for Switzerland within a very short period of time, with Swiss CFOs more pessimistic than ever before. Neither during the euro crisis nor during the Swiss franc shock were chief financial officers as negative about economic prospects as they are today, according to the latest half-yearly surveyexternal link published on Monday by consultants...

Hospitals are battling to cope with coronavirus, and now they are under financial pressure as well. (Keystone) Cash-strapped Swiss hospitals, in the front line of the fight against coronavirus, are calling for financial help and an end to the ban on non-emergency procedures which has sapped revenue, reports the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. It quotes the director of Valais Hospital Hugo Burgener as saying “we need liquidity to pay salaries”, and writes that the...

Note sur la vidéo. Je vous poste cette vidéo spécialement pour la partie « revue de presse de quelques pontes de la virologie ». Le petit flottement au niveau des chiffres qui intervient au début n’a pas d’incidence sur le tour d’horizon de presse qui suit. Avertissement Ce texte n’est en aucun cas un appel à la désobéissance. Je vous invite à respecter les directives en vigueur dans votre région, tout comme je le fais moi-même. Les décisions des gouvernants...

Exports to China dropped by half in February compared to the year before.  (© Keystone / Peter Klaunzer) The closure of shops caused by the spread of the coronavirus worldwide will cost Swiss watch firms dear, but exports are expected to rebound next year. “The Swiss watch industry will experience the largest decline in the past 50 years,” says a study published by private bank Vontobel on Wednesday. The projections are based on the assumption that stores will be...