Budget balancing act: agriculture gains, cuts to asylum assistance
After weeks of deliberation in the House of Representative’s Finance Committee, the upshot is additional funds for agriculture, offset by reductions in asylum and regional policy.
The intricacies of the discussions were compounded by debates surrounding the debt ceiling.
Shortly before the end of the budget deliberations, there was a structural deficit of CHF75.4 million ($85.3 million), as the parliamentary services announced on Thursday. As this would not have fulfilled the requirements of the debt brake, the committee decided to revert to some of the decisions it had already made and save CHF85 million.
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According to the press release, the bottom line is that the 2024 budget now shows a slight structural surplus of CHF9.6 million. In the overall vote, the committee approved this version of the budget by 11 votes to 1 with 13 abstentions, which could indicate an animated debate in December.
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There are numerous changes compared to the Federal Council’s proposal. In a nutshell, agriculture is to receive almost CHF70 million more, to the detriment of social assistance for asylum seekers, temporarily admitted persons and refugees (CHF30 million less) and regional development (CHF25 million less).
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