Smokers, parents and Ukrainians: this is where the Keller-Sutter savings hammer comes down

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (60) must save. From next year there is a risk of budget deficits of 2.5 billion francs – and more, as the FDP federal councilor and her government colleagues warn.

This is due to the higher costs for AHV, lower premiums and higher military expenditures. Expenditure in the asylum sector will also likely continue to rise. To bring the 2025 budget back into balance, the Federal Council has now decided on the first measures. They are not without controversy.

The Federal Council wants to investigate how it can reduce the costs for protection status S and for refugees. A package of measures will be introduced for this purpose in the spring. It is still unclear how much savings can actually be made from this. Many costs are fixed and contracts have been concluded that cannot be easily terminated. So it will probably take some time before actual savings are made. And the costs depend mainly on the unpredictable number of refugees.

To stay within budget, the costs for S protection status are recorded exceptionally for the fourth time in a row. An accounting trick and not a cost-saving measure. It will be ready by 2028 at the latest – by which time the expenditure must be properly financed.

The childcare dispute continues. The proposal for additional family care will not come into effect until 2026 at the earliest. The planned budget items will therefore be cancelled. This means that parents will probably have to wait at least a year longer for additional subsidized daycare centers.

However, it is still unclear which model of the nursery template will prevail in parliament. The Federal Council is against federal financing, as the National Council wants. The Council of States wants to send an alternative model for consultation in the spring.

The Federal Council wants to increase tobacco taxes and thus raise an additional 35 million francs. It was not yet clear on Wednesday how much more expensive individual tobacco products would be. The two economic committees are still being consulted on this. However, the usual Zigi package will probably remain the same price, because you have already reached the maximum tax rate. On the other hand, prices for cigars and shihas may become more expensive.

The government wants to reduce federal contributions to unemployment insurance further than is currently possible. Over five years, he can use up to 1.25 billion francs for other purposes. “The measure will reduce the burden on the 2025 budget by another 340 million.” The message will be adopted in March. This is more of a shift in spending than actual savings measures.

The insurance company’s equity continues to grow, the federal government writes, and is stable even as unemployment rises. This would not change unemployment benefits.

The contribution to the ETH should be reduced by 100 million francs. From the perspective of the federal government, this should not be a problem for the university. It has reserves of 1.4 billion francs that it wants to reduce.

During the budget debate in December, Parliament used the railway infrastructure fund to meet the debt brake. They paid less than planned. This cut must be brought forward and spread over two years instead of three years: in 2025 it will be 300 million, in 2026 it will be 150 million as planned.

No money will be invested in the regional development fund in 2025. In the following two years, the contribution will be halved. Parliament has already halved the amount this year.

The federal government states that the fund currently has sufficient resources and that planned expenditure is not at risk.

All measures are intended to reduce the budget by more than two billion francs. In particular, the extraordinary booking of protection status S and the postponement of the reception template make a difference. In some cases, however, these are not real cost-cutting measures, but rather accounting maneuvers.

The guidelines that Keller-Sutter is now proposing will likely be discussed in parliament. She also announces that even more cuts are needed: because the measures published on Wednesday will not be enough to balance the federal budget in the medium term. There will be a fundamental review of all federal tasks and subsidies at the end of March.

Source:Blick