Four times a year the rate of interest used to set the rents in Switzerland is reviewed. If the aggregate average mortgage rate goes down some renters can request lower rent. If it goes up some landlords can raise rents. This time the rate remained at 1.25%, however it was close to moving to 1.5%. […]
Swiss government backtracks on pension increase
In December 2022, parliament sent a recommendation to the Federal Council to increase state pensions by the rate of inflation. However, this week a parliamentary majority voted not to, reported RTS. The Federal Council had already boosted state pensions by 2.5% from 1 January 2023 before calls were made to bump them up by 2.8% […]
Swiss inflation accelerated in January 2023
Upward pressure on prices continues in Switzerland. Recently published data show annual inflation rising to 3.3% to the end of January 2023, up from 2.8% at the end of 2022. Public sector workers in parts of Switzerland have been demanding salary increases. In Vaud they have been demanding indexation. Looking back across a longer period […]
Swiss government confirms first underlying deficit since 2005
On 15 February 2023, Switzerland’s federal government published finalised figures showing it spent CHF 4.3 billion more than it received in 2022. Excluding extraordinary expenses related to the Covid pandemic left an underlying operating deficit of CHF 1.9 billion, the first shortfall of this kind since 2005. Switzerland’s federal government is required to operate under […]
Migros Bank to end nighttime cash withdrawals after spate of bank machine attacks
After a rising number of attacks on cash machines across Switzerland, Migros Bank has decided it will probably close all of its machines overnight, reported RTS. Last year, at least 38 cash dispensing machines were blown up and robbed across Switzerland. The most recent attack at the end of January 2023 was on a machine […]
Reservations on Booking.com can cost 50% more in Switzerland
Since 1 December 2022, contracts that online platforms often get hotels to sign to stop them offering prices lower than those offered via the platform are no longer legally enforceable in Switzerland due to a change in law. This week, broadcaster RTS published the results of a market test it performed to see if the […]
Record number of recreation-related accidents in Switzerland in 2022
Accident insurer Suva recorded a record number of recreation-related accidents in 2022, reported RTS. Suva, a not-for-profit insurance company in Switzerland, insures around 2 million individuals in Switzerland every year. In 2022, it recorded around 290,000 non-work related accidents, a record figure, 14% higher than in 2021 and 4% higher than before the pandemic in […]
Unclaimed Swiss pensions reach 5.6 billion in 2022
When workers in Switzerland change employers they typically take their salary-based pensions with them. However, if they leave the country without making any pension transfer arrangements, after six months, their pension money ends up with the Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution, a kind of backstop holding place for forgotten pensions. At the the end of 2022, […]
Retirement at 68.2 to cover Swiss pension shortfall, says UBS
Swiss resident’s are regularly reminded of the large financial gap is Switzerland’s state pension system. Despite this, several attempts at reform have failed to gain sufficient support. Those that have still leave a large shortfall. On 24 January 2023, UBS published four additional reform scenarios. Only the fourth, with a life expectancy adjusted retirement age […]
Swiss government aims to cut 2 billion from 2024 budget
Like many governments across the world, Switzerland’s federal government is spending more than it collects. Extraordinary spending on Covid and refugees has pushed Switzerland’s finances into the red, a situation Karin Keller-Sutter, the current finance minister, hopes to eliminate by 2024. During its meeting on 25 January 2023, the Federal Council made preliminary decisions to […]
