In the introduction, the spokeswoman of the pre-advisory finance committee summarized Switzerland’s financial situation: “The debt brake will still be observed this year, but not from 2024,” said Johanna Gapany (FDP / FR). According to the extrapolation, the deficit will increase every year. In the worst case, the financing gap could reach seven billion francs by 2026, according to the Bundesrat.
Even though people are now talking about the 2023 budget, one should not ignore the outlook, Gapany said. The situation is not easy. New debts may not be incurred because of the debt brake. In concrete terms, the budget provides for revenues of CHF 79.8 billion and expenditures of CHF 80.5 billion. This results in a shortfall of CHF 669 million. Last week, the National Council approved increases of CHF 14.1 million compared to the Federal Council’s proposal.
Finance Minister Ueli Maurer, in turn, emphasized that the budget shows a total financing gap of CHF 4.8 billion. This is mainly caused by the extraordinary expenses – for example for those seeking protection from Ukraine. “We assume that next year we will have 100,000 people with protection status S here, today there are about 80,000.” CHF 1.7 billion has been budgeted for this.
Four billion francs is also planned for the Axpo rescue package. “The loan has not yet been called and we are confident that it will not be called in the coming year,” said Maurer. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is creating a funding gap. “We must assume that the SNB distributions for 2023 will not be made.” The reduction of the extraordinary debt will therefore be postponed.
Overall, though, the 2023 budget is still on track as part of the debt brake, Maurer said. “For the coming years, we expect financing gaps of 1 to 3 billion francs.” This is not about deciding on new expenditure that will not be financed. “Otherwise this will lead to cost-saving measures.” Maurer finally summed it up: “We can sleep well in 2023, but for the next few years it’s worth waking up and seeing what can be done.”
To get the debate going, the Council of States took the first two substantive decisions in the field of sport. The small chamber disagreed with the National Council’s decision to allocate an additional CHF 360,000 to improve the ethical situation in the sport. The National Council had requested this because the Swiss Sports Integrity Registry Office received more reports than expected. The decision in the Council of States, on the other hand, was taken by 23 against 18 votes.
The Council of States also rejected the National Council’s decision to make an additional CHF 650,000 available for the 2024 World Relay Championships in Lausanne. The world championship has now been awarded to the Bahamas, said Finance Minister Ueli Maurer. The Council of States therefore tacitly rejected this.
(SDA)