Swiss government expects 2019 budget surplus of 1.3 billion Sfr

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss government said it was expecting a budget surplus of 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.31 billion) next year due to higher tax receipts and the rejection of a corporate tax reform project last year.

Looking ahead, the government said it expected a more stretched budget from 2020 onwards due to pension costs and tax changes.

Switzerland ran a federal budget surplus of 2.98 billion Swiss francs last year, far better than the deficit originally planned as tax revenue surpassed expectations.

In February it projected structural surpluses of 1.1 billion francs in 2019, 1.0 billion in 2020 and 1.9 billion in 2021.

(Reporting by Michael Shields)