Tag Archives: Personal finance

On 18 September 2023, the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, followed parliament in passing changes to Swiss tenancy laws that make life easier for landlords, reported parlament.ch. Two changes reduce tenants ability to sublet and make it easier for landlords to end rental contracts. Housing Switzerland © Thomas Stoiber | Dreamstime.comSupported by 25 versus 11, the upper house passed a new rule that prevents tenants from subletting a property for longer than 2 years. The new...

Many drugs come in two forms: expensive branded drugs and cheaper generic copies. Switzerland’s Federal Council hopes a shift to cheaper generic and bio-similar medicines can shave CHF 250 million from Switzerland’s rapidly rising cost of healthcare, reported SRF. New rules on medicine choices and health insurance were already set to come into force on 1 January 2024. However, this week the Federal Council announced that it will make the new rules tougher that first planned in the hope of...

Switzerland’s consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.2% in August 2023 compared with the previous month, an annualised rate of 2.4%. However, year-on-year inflation was +1.6% compared with the same month of the previous year, below the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) targeted maximum rate of 2.0%, reported Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO). © Scottnodine | Dreamstime.comThe 0.2% increase compared with the previous month is due to several factors, wrote FSO. The rising prices...

Switzerland’s economy failed to expand in the second quarter of 2023, recording zero growth, according to data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). In addition, economists are now lowering their growth forecasts for the year, reported SRF. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.comThe economic slowdown is being driven by a number of economic headwinds. Slowing economies in Germany and Italy and the absence of an expected post-Covid rebound in China are impacting Swiss exports. In...

The Swiss union association Travail.Suisse is demanding salary increases of between 3.5% and 4.5%, depending on the sector, for all workers reported RTS. Photo by Anamul Rezwan on Pexels.comThe organisation argues that the demanded hike is justified as a way to keep salaries aligned with cost of living increases and rising productivity. It says that costs such as healthcare and rent are the main financial challenges for workers. It also argues that rising productivity gives companies...

Christian Petit, the head of Romande Energie told RTS that the company is not responsible for impeding hikes in the price of electricity. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.comThe largest electricity provider in French-speaking Switzerland plans to raise electricity prices further in 2024 after roughly doubling prices in 2023. However, its boss argues the electricity company is not to blame for the financial pain. From 1 January 2024, two price rises imposed by the federal government will take...

Swiss farmers are heavily supported by taxpayers. In addition to higher taxes, Swiss consumers must also dig deep to cover the import tariffs built into some food prices. Tariffs on meat are well known. But they are also significant on some vegetables, reports SRF. Photo by Dmitry Demidov on Pexels.comDuring Switzerland’s cherry tomato harvest season, which runs from May to October, the import tariff on tomatoes is CHF 731 per 100 kilograms. This means a 500g box of cherry tomatoes comes...

On 31 July 2023, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced it had made a loss of CHF 13.2 billion during the second quarter of 2023. This takes the bank’s net equity down to CHF 79 billion and pushes the reserves used to make distributions to the cantons deeper into negative territory – at 30 June 2023 reserves for future distribution stood at almost CHF – 40 billion. © Santiaga | Dreamstime.comOver recent years the SNB has taken a financial beating. In 2022, the bank lost CHF 132 billion....

On 26 July 2023, the administration announced that it had given a green light to a vote on a proposal to provide “good affordable childcare for everyone”. A total of 102,238 valid signatures were confirmed, a figure beyond the 100,000 required to call a popular vote in Switzerland. Photo by Alexander Grey on Pexels.comVote organisers want day-care centres to be accessible to all families at prices they can afford. The proposal would price daycare according to income, and cap charges at a...

This week, Swiss Post announced it would increase the cost of sending letters and parcels from the beginning of 2024. © Swiss PostAt the beginning of 2024, nearly everything is set to rise in price as the Swiss VAT rate jumps from 7.7% to 8%. In addition, more and more companies are joining the party, pushing up their prices. From the beginning of 2024, A and B class letters will cost 10 cents more to post, and parcels will cost a further CHF 1.50. These costs will find their way into...