Council of States Committee in favor of status quo for National Bank distributions
Published: Friday, Sep 6th 2024, 19:40
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The responsible Council of States committee does not want to change the National Bank's distribution policy. It has rejected a proposal to make the contributions to the Confederation and the cantons permanent.
The profit agreement between the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) regulates the amount of the annual distributions to the Confederation and cantons over a certain period of time. To date, the SNB has been able to distribute a large amount to the Confederation and cantons from the investment profit almost every year.
In 2020, the federal government and cantons received CHF 4 billion, in 2021 and 2022 even CHF 6 billion. In 2023, payments stopped abruptly and there was a zero round. In 2024, the Confederation and cantons will once again receive no money.
No obligation to distribute dividends
The Finance Committee of the Council of States (FK-S) wants to retain the current model, as announced by the parliamentary services on Friday. It rejected a report on the adjustment of the SNB's distribution policy by 8 votes to 5.
The proponents of reform wanted to ensure a stable distribution of profits to the Confederation and cantons. In their view, there would still be scope to determine and stabilize the SNB's distributions in a binding manner.
In the eyes of the majority of the Commission, however, the current distribution policy is satisfactory and does not need to be changed. The extreme volatility of the SNB's profits and losses must be taken into account. "The SNB must not be forced to make a payment if it runs a deficit."
According to the press release, the majority also pointed out that the SNB's primary mandate is to manage the country's monetary policy, primarily ensuring price stability, and to do so in complete independence.
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