ZURICH (Reuters) - A narrow majority of Swiss voters look set to back a referendum next month which would place severe limits on immigration, according to an online poll published on Tuesday by free Swiss daily newspaper 20 Minuten.
The Swiss government and business groups have urged voters to reject the population control initiative, dubbed Ecopop, saying it will imperil ties with the European Union, already strained by a previous anti-immigration vote in February.
But the 20 Minuten poll showed 53 percent of Swiss could envision backing the tighter controls, compared to 44 percent who oppose it.
A similar poll published by the paper in February, weeks after a vote to introduce quotas on EU citizens, showed only 40 percent supported the Ecopop initiative.
Ecopop seeks to cap the number of new immigrants at just 0.2 percent of the resident population or the equivalent of 16,000 people per year. It would also earmark 10 percent of Switzerland's budget for development aid for family planning.
Foreigners accounted for more than 1.9 million permanent residents as of the end of June, government data show.
The referendum initiative comes from a group which argues that immigration has led to overcrowding in Switzerland, whose population has risen more than 140 percent since 1990, endangering the country's natural resources.
It has struck a chord with Swiss worried about rising rents and crowded public transport. It also chimes with a growing tide of anti-immigration sentiment seen across Europe, partly reflected in the rise of right-wing groups like France's National Front, the UK Independence Party and Sweden Democrats.
The authors of Tuesday's poll said the survey was conducted online on Oct. 15 with 13,397 voters. Results were then weighted by voter demographics, geography, and other political variables in order to better represent the Swiss voting population.
Still, the method of polling is seen as less reliable than that of Berne-based research and polling institute gfs.bern, which is due to publish its own poll on Friday.
The 20 Minuten poll also showed there was no majority for a separate "Save our Swiss gold" referendum brought by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP).
The SVP's gold initiative, which like Ecopop will be put to voters on Nov. 30, aims to prevent the central bank from offloading its gold reserves, obliging it to hold at least 20 percent of its assets in gold.
This would force the central bank to massively bolster its gold holdings, which stood at 1,040 tonnes this month according to the World Gold Council, representing 7.8 percent of reserves. Such a buying spree could push prices significantly higher, market watchers say.
The SVP gold initiative is opposed by the Swiss government, the central bank and several influential parties.
The poll showed support at 45 percent, short of the majority needed for passage. Some 39 percent opposed the initiative, while 16 percent of voters were undecided.
Support for such initiatives tends to weaken in the run-up to the vote, as opposition campaigners step up their activities.
(Reporting By Katharina Bart. Additional reporting by Jan Harvey in London.; Editing by Noah Barkin and Crispian Balmer)
