Financial Highlights in Switzerland
Electricity increase: Even though we felt a rise in the energy process already this year, the consumers will see the energy prices increase even more from 1 January 2023. The main reasons were at first the war in Ukraine and the results of the corona pandemic, but now we are adding the inflation and low availability from foreign power plants.
In Luzern, CKW said in their press release on Tuesday that they “must therefore increase electricity tariffs. For a private customer with medium electricity consumption, this increases additional costs of around 23 francs per month”.
EWL also announced an increase in energy price by 2023, “Thanks to EWL‘s power plants and shareholdings, the price increase is less high than would be the case with a complete market procurement,” EWL writes in a statement. Electricity prices will be increased by an average of 3.9 centimes per kilowatt hour as of 1 January 2023. This represents an average increase of around 25 percent.
Since we all will see a bigger energy bill in the coming months and next year, we could use this opportunity to be more aware of the waste we may have in our house and business.
Here are some examples of simple measures you can do to reduce your bill:
- Turn off the lights when you leave a room, even the hallway light too;
- Unplug electronics. Even when off, TVs, microwaves, or other appliances and electronics use power;
- Unplug the charger. Some chargers still pull small amounts of energy when left plugged in;
- Shut down your computer at night. Computers are some of the biggest energy absorbers
The GDP in Switzerland grew by 4.2 percent in 2021. It was a big increase compared to 2020, the first year of the pandemic. However, some sectors of the economy continued to suffer. This is shown by initial estimates by the Federal Statistical Office.
The trade balance also advanced positively last year. In goods trading, we had more exports (+11.5 percent) than imports(+4.7 percent) which were related to the chemical and pharmaceutical products recorded a significant increase.
While the hospitality and creative industries continued to suffer from the consequences of the pandemic.
Financial Highlights in the World
USA: Just 132K jobs were created during the month, well below the expected 288K, and down from the 270K were created in July. The smallest gain since the start of 2021. The data pointed to a consecutive slowing in job creation in August vs. the last few months. The environment of Inflation and an increase in Interest Rates are not helping employment.
UK: Ten-year UK government bond yields, which are a proxy for the effective interest rate on public borrowing, hit 2.78% to register the biggest monthly rise since September 1986.
This is a great opportunity for investors who prefer low-risk investments. UK Bonds with 2.78% and US Bonds with 3.11% as interest rates are better returns than bank deposits nowadays.
EUR: Banks, economists, and traders are betting on an interest rate increase of 0.75% by the European Central Bank at its meeting next week.
Financial Highlights in Swiss Companies
The Seetal AG brewery in Hochdorf is closing its doors after 25 years due to a lack of profitability. Several reasons led to the decision, says master brewer Marco Jutz. Raw materials such as hops and malt have become significantly more expensive. As a further reason, he cites the competition from Hochdorf beer.
