Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan stated (21/1/2023) that “inflation in Switzerland may have peaked,” noting that “further tightening of monetary policy is not excluded.” Jordan added that the Swiss bank continues to monitor the rise of the currency (the Swiss franc) against the euro.
Thus, Switzerland joined the group of European countries and among them France AndBelgium In which trade unions and trade unions organized demonstrations, demanding salary adjustments to deal with the inflation that has swept Europe since it fueled the Western-Russian war in Ukraine. About 3,000 civil servants participated in the Lausanne region, and teachers went on strike in about 30 schools, secondary schools and other educational institutions, and this move is “the largest mobilization since the protest against pension fund reform in 2013” (according to him site report Ghetto text).
These demonstrations also coincided with the announcement of the Swiss National Bank, a loss of 132 billion Swiss francs ($143 billion) for the fiscal year 2022, which is the largest loss in the 116-year history of the “central”, according to CNBC. This will have repercussions on the economic, financial and, consequently, social conditions in the country.
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs forecasts for the year 2023 estimated that the current economic slowdown will lead to an increase in the unemployment rate, which may reach 2.3%. While challenging the siteSwissinfo“The suffering of the elderly and retirees affected the living, as 1 out of 5 elderly people are displaced below the poverty line amid the lack of savings or reserve financial resources that usually cover limited income.
In 2022, Switzerland ended the stage of negative interest rates, with the Swiss Central Bank gradually raising these rates, which reached 1% last December. Switzerland adopted this policy for the first time in 15 years to combat rising inflation after the central bank had kept interest rates steady at -0.75% since 2015.
Regarding inflation rates, the media talks about touching 5%. The reports of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) Last year, it reported that inflation reached a 29-year high of 3.4% in June, more than economists had expected, and for the first time inflation in Switzerland exceeded 3% since 2008.
The report also continued to talk about an increase in the cost of goods and services in Switzerland by 3.5% in August 2022 compared to the same month last year. The prices of imported goods jumped by 8.6%, while the prices of local products increased by 1.8%.. The annual rate of inflation reached 2% in the month of August.
In addition, energy and fuel costs rose, while the Swiss Electricity Authority had warned households of significant increases in bills for 2023, and a number of industry sectors had warned that they would have to pass on the cost increases to consumers.
The Federal Statistical Office added that “the increasing cost of social care, hospital care and higher rents also contributed to the increase in the burden.”
Despite all that Switzerland suffers from, the talk of recession is still far away, and it is in a better condition than other European countries. Historically, the Swiss economy is one of the largest and most stable not only in Europe, but in the world.