Switzerland to expect lowest annual growth since 2009

The annual economic growth of Switzerland in 2017 is expected to be below one percent after revision, possibly the slowest since 2009, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said.

The latest statistics from SECO predicted a growth rate of 0.9 percent for 2017, which has fallen from previous estimates of 1.4 percent, possibly marking the worst-performing economic year since a 2.2 percent contraction in 2009, Xinhua reported.

SECO said the economy is “only gradually resuming a stronger growth trajectory”, mostly due to slow growth in most service sectors, despite an uptick in the performance of the manufacturing, hotel and catering industries.

The figures are in line with similar downgrading of expectations by the Swiss National Bank.

Earlier this week, Credit Suisse revised its forecast from 1.5 to 1 percent, noting decreased dynamism of some recent growth drivers including high immigration and a housing boom.

However, SECO seems to be optimistic that stronger growth would take off again next year, predicting a twopercent growth for 2018, due to predicted global growth and the effect of the current depreciation of the Swiss franc.

“The Swiss export sector is benefiting from the healthy global economy, and will do so all the more if the Swiss franc, which has depreciated in the summer, maintains its new level,” SECO said.

It also noted that domestic demand is expected to gain momentum from 2018, with the private consumption expecting to achieve moderate growth.

Meanwhile, the job market is also tipped to slowly improve by a 0.8-percent rise next year, SECO claims, bringing the unemployment rate down to three percent.