Council of States committee wants to reduce coronavirus subsidy for SBB
Published: Friday, Jan 19th 2024, 16:40
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SBB is to receive a one-off capital subsidy to reduce its debt. The Finance Committee of the Council of States (FK-S) wants to reduce the amount of CHF 1.15 billion approved by the National Council to CHF 600 million.
The FK-S made this decision in the draft amendment to the SBB Act with a casting vote by its Chairman Jakob Stark (SVP/TG), as reported by the parliamentary services on Friday. The proposal will now be discussed by the lead transport committee (KVF-S) and then by the small chamber.
The narrow majority wants to reduce the extraordinary and one-off capital subsidy from the federal government to SBB, which serves in particular to reduce SBB's debt incurred during the coronavirus crisis, by CHF 550 million. It is of the opinion that SBB should offset some of the losses incurred in long-distance transport between 2020 and 2022 with the profits generated in this sector in the years before and after this period.
The Finance Committee proposes further amendments to the bill. For example, it voted 8 to 1 with 2 abstentions in favor of retaining the current law on financing investments outside of infrastructure. Specifically, the Confederation's current practice of granting SBB vault loans to cover its financing requirements should be continued.
In the eyes of the majority, the introduction of a threshold above which loans are granted via the federal budget offers no added value compared to current practice, as stated in the press release. The granting of vault loans is already subject to strict conditions. The new practice would make the system more complicated, as investment financing differs depending on the level of SBB's net debt.
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