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“We were wrong,” financial director Ernst Stocker (SVP) admitted on Friday at the presentation of the 2022 annual accounts. “The deviation of 1.1 billion is very large.”
In previous years, the canton of Zurich has always outperformed the budget. However, the 67-year-old defended herself against the accusation of being a “naysayer”: “It just turned out much better than expected.”
The economy is booming
In the middle of the corona pandemic, the uncertainties surrounding the preparation of the 2022 budget were still great. However, a scenario had been chosen that was not too pessimistic and the government had only reluctantly included any corona effects, Stocker noted. But these effects also failed to materialise.
Tax revenues were most underestimated. The canton received CHF 964 million more than expected. “The labor market is booming, wages are rising, unemployment is at an all-time low,” Stocker explained this development. You couldn’t have expected that.
Unpredictable additional income also resulted from the additional distribution tranche from the National Bank (plus CHF 124 million) and the higher profit distribution from the Zürcher Kantonalbank (plus CHF 50 million), as Stocker further explained.
Inflation as risk
Despite the eighth positive financial statements in a row, Stocker, who is back in the budget phase for 2024, warned Friday afternoon: “It doesn’t look so rosy anymore.”
The total of CHF 700 million is said to be missing from the National Bank, which no longer makes payments to the cantons after its losses. As a further risk, Stocker mentioned the likely stubborn inflation, which also puts the national budget to the test.
This does not affect the financial plan for the time being. The previously announced reduction of the tax rate for natural persons by two percentage points remains unchanged in the financial plan. However, the cantonal council decides on the level of the tax rate at the end of the year as part of the budget process.
With total expenses of CHF 18.1 billion, the annual accounts for 2022 show a plus of CHF 543 million. (SDA)
Source:Blick
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