Swiss economy expects moderate growth

The Swiss economy is likely to grow by 1.3 per cent next year, according to a new survey.

The economic research group, BAK Basel Economics, said an upturn in the United States and Japan would lead to a recovery in Switzerland’s export-reliant economy.

But the group said that the more positive predictions for the coming months would not compensate for the poor results of the first quarter of this year.

BAK expects domestic demand to remain weak and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.8 per cent.

The economists forecast negative growth of 0.4 per cent for this year – more pessimistic than other economic experts.

Following the projected increase in Swiss GDP of 1.3 per cent in 2004, BAK expects an even greater rise of 1.8 per cent in 2005.

The Swiss bank, UBS, has released more optimistic predictions of 1.9 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively.

swissinfo with agencies