MERZ said the government must ensure an electricity-tax cut in the 2027 budget and that he has ways to achieve it.

Switzerland's CPI rose 1.5% YoY in October, the highest in nearly three years, up from 1.0% in September and above economists' forecasts, the Federal Statistical Office said on Tuesday. The increase, driven by a surge in oil prices and a weaker franc, was mainly due to higher heating oil, gasoline and diesel; energy's low weight in the Swiss CPI limits its overall impact. The print exceeds Swiss National Bank policymakers' Q4 projection of 1.2% but remains inside the SNB's 0–2% target range. Core inflation excluding energy and other volatile items held at 0.5%. Officials characterized the pickup as largely temporary and said medium‑term inflationary pressure had only edged up. The SNB's policy rate has been at zero for more than a year.

Shanghai Vice Party Secretary and Mayor Zhu Zhongming chaired a Nov. 2 executive meeting that approved in principle Shanghai’s New Energy System Construction ‘‘15th Five‑Year’’ Plan and ordered expedited implementation. The city will push a green, low‑carbon transition and optimize its energy mix, develop tens‑of‑GW green power bases, accelerate an Inner Mongolia‑to‑Shanghai UHV transmission project and deep‑offshore wind buildout, and foster compute‑power coordination and ‘‘AI+ energy’’ business models to strengthen low‑carbon consumption. Shanghai will also beef up energy security with a multi‑layer reserve mechanism covering in‑city and external, near‑ and long‑term reserves, and promote aggregation of flexible resources — including virtual power plants and new energy storage — to boost grid flexibility and peak‑supply capability and safeguard reasonable energy use for economic activity.