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Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva’s debt has fallen CHF 2.6 billion in the past three years to CHF 10bn, according to canton Geneva finance minister, David Hiler, in an interview with the Tribune de Genève 17 August. In 2007, Hiler says, the canton’s debt was CHF12.6bn. The reduction was possible thanks to several good years for tax receipts, a change in the law to allow public companies to put their debt on their books, and more efficient state administration, he argues. Hiler nevertheless foresees a gradual increase in the debt until 2011.

Hiler says that given the current economic crisis, it is useful for the government to be anti-cyclical in its economic policies, stimulating demand in hard times and cutting back in better times.

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