Voting on the 13th AHV pension: Keller-Sutter warns of tax increases

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The initiative for a 13th AHV pension is not only popular among the left-wing camp. On March 3, Switzerland will vote on whether retirees will receive more money in the future. The SVP Geneva had already adopted the yes slogan halfway through the month and the section in Lower Valais decided to allow voting.

Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (60) warns against a yes vote. According to official estimates, the initiative would entail additional costs of five billion francs per year. “If this initiative is accepted, we will hardly be able to avoid a tax increase,” the federal councilor said in an interview with the “NZZ”.

A 13th AHV pension can only be financed by increasing VAT or wage contributions from employers and employees. Perhaps a combination of both is needed. Even without the 13th pension, federal spending on AHV would total 16 billion francs in 2035, Keller-Sutter points out.

“The federal government must smooth everything out”

The Minister of Finance currently has a difficult task. The federal budget is out of balance. Switzerland needs to save money, but instead of tightening its belt, Parliament wants to increase spending in the coming years, especially for the army. Keller-Sutter says in an interview that he is pleased that parliament only wants to increase military spending to one percent of gross domestic product in 2035 and not already in 2030. But this plan is also “ambitious and sporty”. “Expanding military spending to this extent inevitably means that it will come at the expense of almost all other areas of responsibility in the coming years – especially as social spending increases so sharply at the same time.” Unlike the 13th AHV pension, she could not imagine a tax increase in favor of the army.

Liberals generally criticize society’s expectations of the state. She has the impression that fundamental things have changed in Switzerland. Personal responsibility has diminished. “Every time there’s the slightest loss or the slightest bump, you call the state. The federal government needs to smooth everything out. We have to be careful that we don’t turn into an all-encompassing state,” Keller-Sutter said.

The biggest challenge for the finance minister this year was the rescue of Credit Suisse. In the spring, her department will submit proposals to the Federal Council on what lessons can be learned from the banking debacle. The federal councilor does not want to show her hand yet. But one thing is clear to them: “We must act – we have no other choice.” We must ensure “that a major bank can fail without, in the worst case, dragging an entire country into the abyss.” (lha)

Source:Blick