Swiss President Pledges More Economic Aid If Virus Worsens
Swiss President Pledges More Economic Aid If Virus Worsens
(Bloomberg) --
The Swiss government may provide additional economic support on top of its $10 billion Covid-19 aid package if the crisis worsens, Switzerland’s President Simonetta Sommaruga said in an interview with SonntagsZeitung.
“Switzerland is a rich country,” she told the newspaper. “We don’t let people down.”
Sommaruga’s comments come two days after the Swiss government unveiled an emergency economic package of roughly 10 billion francs ($10.5 billion) to help workers and small businesses suffering from the impact of the pandemic.
The plan includes as much as 580 million francs in emergency bank loans to small and medium-sized businesses, which employ a majority of the Swiss labor force.
The situation for Swiss companies, businesses and freelancers is “extremely difficult,” Sommaruga said.
The priority for Switzerland now is to deal with the virus by increasing testing and encouraging citizens to protect themselves, she said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bryce Baschuk in Geneva at bbaschuk2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, James Amott, Sara Marley
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