ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s economy could lose almost 100 billion Swiss francs ($105 billion) in output due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the government said on Tuesday.
The government expects 2020 GDP to be around 652 billion francs, down from its December forecast for 712 billion francs. For 2021 it now expects a figure of 688 billion francs, down from the previous view of 725 billion francs.
“On a per capita basis the downturn is going to be as bad as the mid-1970s, if not worse,” said government economist Ronald Indergand. “It is going to take years to get over this. The economy is only going to get back to its previous level by 2022.”
He was speaking after the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs forecast a 6.2% decline for the economy during 2020, before a moderate recovery in 2021.
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Michael Shields)
