Swiss parliament approves 2025 budget

Divisions between parliamentarians in the two chambers were especially strong on offsetting increases in army spending with reductions in foreign aid. Keystone-SDA

The Swiss parliament has finalised the 2025 federal budget. On Thursday, both chambers accepted the conciliation conference's proposal. The army will receive more resources, but this will be offset by cuts in international aid and federal personnel.

Although the two chambers of parliament quickly agreed to increase spending on armaments by CHF530 million ($591 million) over the government’s proposal of CHF2.7 billion, they were divided on how to offset this sum. Opinions were particularly divided on the cut to be made in foreign aid.

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The House of Representatives initially wanted to cut CHF250 million from the international aid budget. The Senate, on the other hand, had drawn up a broader concept of compensation, which envisaged a cut of only CHF30 million in this area.

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The two chambers finally agreed on a cut of CHF110 million, divided between bilateral cooperation (minus CHF55 million), economic cooperation (minus CHF25 million) and contributions to international organisations (minus CHF30 million). The left-leaning parties and the Liberal Greens denounced the scale of the cut and the unbalanced budget.

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The two chambers also agreed on the speed of growth in army spending, which should reach 1% of GDP by 2032. The House wanted this to be the case by 2030.

Agriculture spared

The two chambers also differed on the issue of childcare. The House wanted to increase expenditure on this item by CHF6.9 million, while the Senate wanted to cut it by CHF10 million. In the end, the government’s version prevailed.

Another stumbling block was the contribution to the regional policy fund. Arguing that the fund was sufficiently well endowed, the government decided against a payment in 2025, a position followed by the Senate. The House wanted to maintain a contribution of CHF12.5 million. In the end, CHF6 million will be paid out.

On the other hand, the two chambers agreed to spare agriculture. They approved an increase of nearly CHF42 million to maintain direct payments at the same level as in 2024, at some CHF2.8 billion for 2025. They also increased the amounts earmarked for sales promotion of agricultural products (plus CHF4.8 million). Parliament also earmarked a one-off sum of CHF10 million for vaccines against bluetongue disease.

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Personnel cuts

Federal personnel will be affected by cuts. Parliament approved a CHF40 million across-the-board reduction in spending on federal civil servants. The envelope for salary measures will be cut by CHF30 million.

The budget respects the debt brake, which was welcomed by Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter and politicians on the centre-right. The latter was also satisfied with the increase in spending on the army.

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

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