Off the wire
• Britain gives green light to test driverless cars on public roads  • UNDP Chief to visit Ebola epicenter countries  • U.S. stocks narrowly fluctuate amid focus on Greek debt talks, earnings  • Urgent: Four-way talks on Ukraine begin in Minsk  • 1st LD Writethru: BiH's new state gov't chairman pledges reforms  • Roundup: BiH's new state gov't chairman pledges reforms  • EU ambassador urges Kenya to sign deal for duty free flower export  • U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel hails Obama's war power proposal to Congress  • Kenyan court bars Wanjiru's widow from speaking on inquest  • Slovakia investigates secret accounts in HSBC  
You are here: 　 Home

Switzerland sees first budget deficit in nearly one decade

Xinhua, February 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Swiss Federal Department of Finance on Wednesday announced that Switzerland had its first budget deficit last year in nearly a decade, following lower-than-expected tax revenues.

The landlocked central European country ended 2014 with a deficit of 124 million Swiss francs (133 million U.S. dollars), in stark contrast with an initially-forcasted surplus of 121 million Swiss francs in the budget, said the department.

It was the first time for the government to have suffered a budget deficit since 2005, according to Switzerland's ATS news agency.

Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told media that the shortfall in the federal accounts was notably a result of a lower income tax from businesses and citizens.

Widmer-Schlumpf said that spending cuts were inevitable for the next few years, stressing that sound public finances were important for Switzerland to remain competitive and to attract investors.

It was analyzed that the strong Swiss franc resulting from the Swiss National Bank's recent abandon of minimum exchange rate of Swiss franc against euro may dim the country's economic prospect. Endit