St. Gallen state accounts close with a high deficit
Published: Wednesday, Mar 20th 2024, 14:10
Updated At: Thursday, Mar 21st 2024, 00:59
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The St. Gallen government has presented state accounts for 2023 with an operating deficit of almost 200 million francs. The result was CHF 39 million worse than budgeted. The main reason for this is the loss of the distribution from the Swiss National Bank (SNB).
"Despite the high deficit, the government is not nervous," said Head of Finance Marc Mächler (FDP) at the presentation of the state accounts on Wednesday morning. As a reason for this, he pointed to the high level of equity, which has been regularly increased with the recent very good financial statements.
The negative figures are also no surprise. In its financial planning, the canton expects to remain in the red in the coming years. However, the deficits should be reduced to such an extent by 2027 that a nearly balanced result can be achieved.
The deficit of CHF 199.9 million achieved in 2023 with expenses of CHF 5.7 billion will be largely offset by withdrawals from free and special equity. The bottom line is a net deficit of 87.3 million francs. The free equity capital is still CHF 1.2 billion.
High tax revenues
The absence of a distribution from the SNB, which was budgeted at CHF 150 million, had a major impact on the accounting result. In 2022, the SNB had still paid out CHF 237 million. The costs for hospitalizations and state contributions also increased.
Tax revenue exceeded expectations. They were CHF 110 million better than the budget. For example, CHF 68 million more was collected in income and wealth tax.
One of the reasons is the inflation adjustment, which has led to higher wages and also to higher tax bills due to cold progression, said Felix Sager, head of the tax office. However, the progression is now being balanced out.
Despite the first deficit since 2016, St. Gallen has no net debt. Since the fall of 2023, the canton has also been given the best rating by the rating agency Standard & Poors.
©Keystone/SDA
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