PostFinance, the bank of the Swiss postal service, has a public service mandate to provide banking services to all residents. (Keystone) PostFinanceexternallink, one of Switzerland’s leading financial institutions, expects to cut up to 500 full-time jobs by the end of 2020. The banking division of the Post Office has launched multiple measures to counter the erosion of profit margins and the resulting decline in...
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Every three months the rate of interest used to set Swiss rents is reviewed. If it goes down some renters have the right to request a decrease in rent. This time it remained at 1.50%. The last time it dropped was 1 June 2017 when it fell to its lowest level since 2008. The rate is based on the average Swiss mortgage rate over three months. This rate is then rounded to the nearest 0.25%. This time that rate was 1.51%,...
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The growth in tourism from the Middle East has been driven by Saudi Arabia and the Emirates After almost tripling in the last decade, the number of tourists to Switzerland from the Middle East is slowing down, with the slowdown expected to be particularly marked this summer. The growth rate of tourists from the Gulf will be zero this summer, according to forecasts by Oxford Economics and the Swiss tourist board....
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A recent report published by UBS shows real estate price changes in european mountain resorts. ©-Tatiana-Vasilieva-_-Dreamstime.com_ - Click to enlarge Over the last year, Verbier (-3.2%) and Crans Montana (-3.0%) experienced the largest price declines, while Saas Fee (+14.3%) and St. Moritz (+7.4%) climbed the most. Prices rises in the Jungfrau region (+4.8%) Gstaad (+1.5%), Flims/Laax (+2.8%), Andermatt (+1.5%),...
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A survey of the cost of living in 77 cities, by UBS, ranks Zurich (1st) and Geneva (2nd) as the most expensive. But while these cities are the most expensive, their workers are also the highest paid. In Zurich, less than five days pay affords an iPhone X. In Geneva, the same device requires less than six days of labour. Los Angeles (6.3 days) and Miami (6.5 days) complete the top four. At the other end of the ranking, a...
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Italian fashion brand OVS has 140 stores across the country. (Keystone) The Sempione Retail company, owner of the OVS fashion stores in Switzerland, has begun bankruptcy proceedings. Some 140 outlets will close their doors, with 1,150 workers affected. The Italian clothes brand announced in a statement on Wednesday evening that it had reached a financial dead-end. It did not go into specific details, but said that it...
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The sanctions against Iran are affecting the banking industry there. (Keystone) A Swiss lender is suspending new transactions with Iran following US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Tehran. Banque de Commerce et de Placements (BCP)external link announced on Tuesday that it was wrapping up its activity in Iran in response to the US pulling out of the Iranian nuclear accord earlier this...
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“Nestlé remains fully committed to its home base in Switzerland”, wrote the company in a press release. Swiss food giant Nestlé plans to cut as many as 500 computer-service jobs in Switzerland as part of a restructuring plan to increase profitability, the company announced on Tuesday. Nestlé will be outsourcing the IT jobs to Spain, according to a press release published on the company’s website. “We understand that...
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This crowd backed a winner: Bernese football fans gather outside parliament on May 20 after their team, Young Boys, won the Swiss league (Keystone) Swiss crowdfunding platforms dealt with CHF375 million ($377 million) in 2017, almost three times as much as the previous year. Some 160,000 people supported a crowdfunding project. Over the past eight years, more than half a billion francs have been collected via the...
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© Makasanaphoto | Dreamstime.com Recent statistics show that the average full-time employee in Switzerland worked 42.6 hours a week. This is slightly less than an average Icelander (42.9) – the longest working – but 13% longer than the average in leisurely France (37.4), the european nation putting in the fewest hours. Switzerland also came second on a broader measure: average hours worked per week by everyone 15 or...
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Swiss Economicblogs.org
