Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (59) did not announce good news last Wednesday: the federal government earned a minus of 4.3 billion francs last year. That means: save on the army, save on education, save on research. This is required by the federal government’s debt brake. A shortfall must be compensated for by spending cuts in subsequent years.
That applies to almost everyone. The SBB also has debts, eleven billion francs in 2021, writes the “NZZ”. This debt, by the way, also belongs to the federal government. He makes loans to the railroads, which are financed from the federal budget. This is not covered by the debt brake.
If the SBB were to repay the loans, that would not be a problem. But since 2004, the debt has increased by six billion Swiss francs.
System change planned
The Federal Council now wants to change this system, writes the “NZZ”. For this he wants to allocate 1.3 billion francs once. After that, the SBB must receive extra money in the old way for three to five years – after that the money must come from the regular budget. Parliament can then decide on it.
The question is whether parliament will cut spending on SBB. Nowhere are there more beautiful pictures for politicians than at the opening of new railway lines and nowhere is there more support from voters if you can promise another express train stop (brother).
Source:Blick
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