Thu, Feb 29th 2024
The National Council holds the federal default interest rate at five percent, opting for stability in uncertain economic times
The federal default interest rate will remain at five percent and will not be calculated using a new system. This was decided by the National Council, overturning a decision made last year.
In the 2023 autumn session, the upper chamber voted in favor of a parliamentary initiative by Fabio Regazzi, a member of the Council of States from the center of Switzerland.
The former National Councillor from Ticino wanted to link the default interest rate to the general development of market interest rates in accordance with the proposal he submitted back in 2016.
In a difficult economic environment, a default interest rate that is far higher than market interest rates represents a heavy additional financial burden for many companies.
However, the Council of States did not support the proposal in December of last year. In January, the National Council’s preliminary committee also spoke out against a system change.
All in all, the current fixed interest rate system had proved its worth. In business transactions, this system has advantages precisely because of its clarity and simplicity.
This opinion was endorsed by the National Council on Wednesday by 126 votes to 58 with one abstention, and the decision was taken not to proceed. The initiative is therefore dead.
©Keystone/SDA
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