Zurich (awp) – Director of KOF and member of the Covid taskforce, Jan-Egbert Sturm believes that the coronavirus crisis has never challenged the country’s economic order. In an interview with SonntagsBlick, he pointed out that, comparatively, Switzerland came out of the crisis well, thanks to its economic structure.
Compared to the oil crisis or the financial crisis, the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic have remained surprisingly low. “We have weathered the crisis much better than many economic experts thought possible.” There were certainly painful effects, but no big upheaval occurred, noted Mr. Sturm.
Many activities have simply been able to continue working from home and the major industrial branches have shown their ability to resist the pandemic, the pharma industry in the lead. Moreover, the Federal Council has never paralyzed the economy as has been the case elsewhere, underlined Mr. Sturm.
In addition, Switzerland will be able to repay “without problem” the debts caused by the aid measures linked to the pandemic.
New professional profiles required
The fact that the number of long-term unemployed more than doubled compared to the year before the crisis is typical during a recession, explained the director of the KOF. As the maximum duration of unemployment insurance benefits has been extended, this has resulted in fewer people reaching the end of their entitlements and disappearing from the unemployment statistics.
There is also a change in the quest for workers’ qualifications. The extension of telework, for example, has led to an increase in the demand for IT specialists. However, one does not suddenly find this kind of qualifications. However, this challenge already existed before the coronavirus crisis for the economy and it will continue to occupy it in the future.
Provisional inflation
Prices have risen sharply in Europe and the United States and this is, according to Mr Sturm, due to bottlenecks in global supply and the evolution of energy prices. The expert expects that much of the phenomenon will only be temporary in nature.
As soon as supply can once again meet demand, inflation rates should decline. Moreover, a slight increase in prices is quite desirable from the point of view of the economy. Over time, it would not be good to have “negative inflation” as has been the case in recent years.
If Switzerland is doing comparatively well in terms of inflation rates, this is due, according to Mr Sturm, to the strength of the franc which reduces import prices. However, energy prices also play a role: rising oil and gas prices have less of an effect in Switzerland, as the economy is less energy-intensive there.
tv/rp