Have you heard of the "Debt Brake"? It's a balanced budget requirement enshrined in the Swiss constitution since 2001 to make sure the Swiss never have to raise their debt ceiling.

According to the Director General of Swiss Federal Finance Administration, Fritz Zurbruegg:

"After years of rising deficits and debt in the 1990s, Switzerland’s citizens adopted the debt brake as a constitutional amendment in 2001 (with 85% approval!) The rule was to be implemented starting in 2003. It stated that each year, the budget must be in balance, adjusted for economic conditions. They do this adjustment by multiplying expenditures by a cyclical factor (the ratio of trend real GDP to expected real GDP), thus either allowing for deficits during recessions or forcing lawmakers to have surpluses during booms. Essentially, the rule calls for structural balance in each year and absolute balance over the course of a business cycle."

Click here for a detailed IMF paper on the Swiss Debt Brake.