Switzerland is devoting an additional 4.5 million francs ($4.9 million) to support humanitarian efforts in the Horn of Africa, the Foreign Ministry said. 

"/> Switzerland is devoting an additional 4.5 million francs ($4.9 million) to support humanitarian efforts in the Horn of Africa, the Foreign Ministry said. 

" />
Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

AID

Swiss send millions in aid to Horn of Africa

Switzerland is devoting an additional 4.5 million francs ($4.9 million) to support humanitarian efforts in the Horn of Africa, the Foreign Ministry said. 

Published: 19 July 2011 10:22 CEST

The money will be used to help refugees in Ethiopia and Kenya and to assist the most vulnerable populations in Somalia. The Horn of Africa has recently been hit by a severe food crisis, affecting nearly 11 million people, a figure expected to rise, said the ministry in a statement.

Switzerland has contributed nearly 14 million francs ($17 million) in assistance to the Horn of Africa since the beginning of this year.

The country’s humanitarian aid efforts are focused on the regions worst affected by drought, as well as those taking in most refugees, the statement said.

Several projects have been put in place with the aim of helping local populations through measures such as the restoration of wells and irrigation networks and the vaccination of livestock of nomadic populations, as well as providing emergency assistance, such as food, drinking water and health care.

In addition, several experts from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit are working on water, construction and food security projects in the region, the statement said.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

FINANCE

‘We’ll be struggling well into next year’: German borrowing to soar amid pandemic

Germany on Friday passed a 2021 budget that once again smashes its "debt brake" rule, promising to shield businesses and workers from the economic hit of the pandemic as cases continue to rise.

Published: 11 December 2020 16:21 CET
'We'll be struggling well into next year': German borrowing to soar amid pandemic
The seating area of a restaurant closed off in Boltenhagen on the Baltic Sea coast. Photo: DPA

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government plans to borrow €300 billion ($364 billion) across 2020 and 2021 combined after the government pledged more than a trillion euros in aid, including through short-time work schemes (Kurzarbeit) and business support.

“The budget is the basis for everyone to be confident that we can provide the necessary economic and social support to get us through this crisis together,” Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told lawmakers.

The budget for 2021, which passed with 361 votes in favour to 258 against, provides for a total of €179.8 billion in new loans and nearly €500 billion in public spending.

It means for both 2020 and 2021, Germany will abandon its cherished “debt brake”, a constitutionally enshrined rule that forbids the government from borrowing more than 0.35 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), before planning to return to no new debt in 2022.

Restrictions to curb the second wave of Covid-19 – including shutting the food-and-drink, leisure and cultural sectors – continue to burden the economy, which previously pushed Berlin to amplify its aid to businesses.

Yet case rates continue to climb. On Friday, Germany reported a record nearly 30,000 new infections and almost 600 deaths in a 24-hour period.

Now, Merkel is facing calls to tighten restrictions again.

READ ALSO: Germany mulls three-week lockdown from December 20th

Aid can't be 'endless'

Despite the “ray of hope” of a vaccine rollout, Scholz said, “we know that… we're going to be struggling well into next year with the health, economic and social challenges that are going to follow from this pandemic.”

Businesses hit by the current closures are entitled to claim aid amounting to up to 75 percent of their revenues for November and December 2019, expected to cost the government some 30 billion euros.

However Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said last week that support for pandemic-hit firms implemented through November and December could not go on “endlessly”.

Nevertheless Altmaier on Friday said he aimed to increase the ceiling for aid from January in the case of a harder lockdown.

Germany's debt-to-GDP ratio will climb to 70 percent this year, Germany's central bank said in a report published Friday.

But public finances will likely improve as coronavirus measures come to an end, it said.

The government expects the economy to shrink by 5.5 percent this year, before rebounding by 4.4 percent next year.
 

SHOW COMMENTS