Private consumption fuels Swiss growth

Zurich

THE Swiss economy returned to growth at the end of last year as it fought off the impact of a currency shock that had threatened to push the country into a recession.

Gross domestic product (GDP) increased 0.4 per cent in the three months till December, after contracting 0.1 per cent in the prior quarter, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Bern said on Wednesday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a growth rate of 0.1 per cent for the fourth quarter.