Federal finances Parliament cuts CHF 110 million from foreign aid
The federal budget for 2025 has been finalized. Parliament has allocated around half a billion francs more for the armed forces than the Federal Council wanted. However, cuts will be made to international cooperation and federal personnel.
19.12.2024, 08:45
19.12.2024, 09:52
SDA
Both chambers approved the proposals of the budget agreement conference on Thursday. They cut CHF 110 million from foreign aid in favor of the army. The conciliation conference had to get down to work because the chambers were unable to agree on the cuts to foreign aid and six other budget items.
In addition to foreign aid, federal personnel must make a contribution to compensate for the higher army expenditure. The chambers had already agreed earlier on a cross-sectional cut of CHF 40 million. And the Federal Personnel Office will have 30 million francs less at its disposal for salary measures.
No savings in agriculture
In contrast to the Federal Council, Parliament does not want to make savings in agriculture. Both chambers agreed early on to budget around CHF 42 million more for direct payments to farms next year than the Federal Council would have wanted. Around CHF 2.8 billion has now been approved for this purpose.
The funds for the army will be increased by CHF 530 million. The National Council's request for CHF 200 million for ground-based air defense was waived.
By 123 votes to 72, the National Council said yes to increasing army funding to one percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2032. This was the proposal of the Council of States and ultimately also the Unification Conference. The National Council had originally wanted to achieve the target by 2030, the Federal Council by 2035.
The conservatives were satisfied that the budget complied with the debt brake requirements despite the additional expenditure on the army. "This is not our budget," said the left-wing members of the Council.
Debt brake complied with
Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter expressed her gratitude that the budget complied with the rules of the debt brake and was in line with the constitution. Everyone involved had shown the political will to get their act together. 2025 is settled. "But the coming years will be challenging."
This is because the growth of the army has not yet been financed, said Keller-Sutter. With the goal set by Parliament to increase military spending to one percent of GDP by 2032, an additional CHF 600 million will be needed in 2026. An additional CHF 800 million would be needed for the 13th AHV pension.
