Bern is advancing political motions that want to grab central bank funds. A right-wing effort to disperse money taken in from surcharges on banks for holding Swiss francs is behind the move.
Swiss lower-house lawmakers greenlighted a motion to transfer money taken in by Switzerland's central bank through negative interest rates – charges for holding Swiss francs – into a shore-up of the alpine nation's pension system, Swiss daily«Neue Zuercher Zeitung» (behind paywall, in German) reported on Thursday. The right-wing Swiss People's Party, or SVP, is championing the cause.
The Swiss National Bank, or SNB, last year took in 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.1 billion) from the charges. The policy is meant to dissuade Swiss lenders from holding francs, which in turn is a monetary policy bid to discourage haven flows into the Swiss currency.
Corona Crisis Measures
The lower house supported the SVP motion with 108 votes in favor and 79 against. The SVP and left-wing Socialist Party, or SP, are united in the effort. However, the unlikely duo will have a tougher time in the upper chamber, where they don't collectively command as much voting power as in the lower house.
The SNB's surcharge pile won't be quite as high this year: the central bank exempted banks from the levy earlier this year as part of a wide-ranging package of government measures to counter the coronavirus crisis.
Paying Down Corona Debt
A second motion, this one put before the lower chamber's primary economic committee, also made the cut, though more narrowly at 95 votes for and 91 against. This motion proposes to disperse part of the SNB's profits towards corona debt relief.
The motion won majorities from the SVP, SP, as well as the business-friendly Liberal Free Democratic Party, or FDP, and the centrist Christian Democrats, CVP. Its backers argue that Switzerland should reduce corona-induced debt as quickly as possible. «NZZ» reported the government's share of the SNB's annual profit was 1.3 billion francs last year.
