Fighting the pandemic has been expensive. The latest figures show the country is CHF 12.2bn in the red. That’s twice as much as budgeted.
CHF 14bn was spent on Covid measures, including compensation for reduced working hours, hardship cases and loss of earnings allowances.
But last year was still just under a billion francs less expensive than 2020.
The government says there should be no further extraordinary costs and the budget should return to normal next year – with CHF 600,000 surplus.
Geneva could foot the G7 bill
Geneva fears it will be left with the security bill from a G7 summit just across the border in Évian, according to 24 heures.
US NGO discovers Swiss child abuse cases
Switzerland relies too heavily on an American NGO to detect child sexual abuse online, raising questions about the country's ability to protect children on its own.
French singer banned by Paleo
The Paléo Festival in Nyon says it will no longer invite French singer Patrick Bruel, after a former volunteer accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
Cars going uninspected
The cantons are struggling to keep up with mandatory vehicle inspections, leaving more than 550,000 checks overdue nationwide.
War may lead to rent rises
Rents may rise again, says the bank Raiffeisen.
Not a heatwave, yet
Summer has arrived, with temperatures climbing past 30 over the long weekend. Basel reached 31 and Sion hit 32.4, but MeteoSwiss, says this does not yet count as an official heatwave.
