A group of experts has issued recommendations on budget items on which the Confederation could save. Today, the Federal Council has chosen which proposals it wishes to put out for consultation.
Switzerland’s budget is structurally in deficit. However, the Confederation is required, through the debt brake, to never spend more than it earns.
In order to enable Switzerland to cope with the increase in spending on old-age pensions (AVS) and the army in the near future, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (photo) recently requested an expert assessment from a commission formed around economist Serge Gaillard. In its report presented at the beginning of September, the group identified considerable potential for savings in the Confederation’s various expenditures.
The Federal Council indicated this Friday that it wishes to follow the majority of these recommendations, which would save 3.6 billion francs per year from 2027.or even more than 4 billion later. The government has announced that it intends above all to reduce expenditure, but that it also plans to act on revenue, in particular by revising the taxation of pensions.
When it comes to cost-cutting measures that concern the cantons, climate targets and unemployment benefits, the Federal Council is going less far than the recommendations. The contribution to the SSR’s offer for foreign markets, which funds SWI swissinfo.ch for half, is affected by the cost-cutting measures.
The Federal Council now wants to submit the entire package of measures to a consultation procedure. As it requires a series of legal adaptations, the government plans to present it to Parliament in the form of a single amending act, that is, a global package.
The RTS summaryExternal link and the Federal Council press releaseExternal link
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