The parliamentary debate over the federal government’s “savings package 27” has come to an end. The two chambers have reduced the planned savings over the next three years to CHF5.3 billion ($6.74 billion), compared to CHF8.5 billion originally proposed by the government.
The measures were mainly intended to offset planned spending on the army and the 13th old-age and survivors’ (AHV/AVS) pension payment. Agriculture was largely spared from the cuts and is considered the main winner, writes Le Temps.
The foreign mandate of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), through which Swissinfo is partly financed, was also dropped from the savings measures, as was the CHF400,000 annual contribution to the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad.
The Greens have now announced that they will not launch a referendum against the package. Thanks to the threat of bringing the issue before voters, parliament corrected its course in the most affected sector – climate policy – said party president Lisa Mazzone.
However, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter has already warned of a structural deficit of almost CHF600 million in 2027. She said the government would present new proposals during the winter budget session to address this. “It is therefore likely that we will soon return to negotiations on some expenditures that have been rejected today,” Keller-Sutter said.