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Finance Ministry: Proposal to Tax Banks Ignores Negative Impact
Tuesday 02 November 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, November 2 (TASR) - The Finance Ministry said on Tuesday that it disagrees with the proposal drafted by the opposition Smer-SD party to introduce special levies on banks and that it won't recommend that this measure should be passed in Parliament.
"The proposal ignores the ongoing European discussion, contains technical imperfections, and is even based on inaccurate calculations that neglect the negative impact that this will have on people and the economy," said Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Jaros.
The aforementioned proposal, set to be discussed in Parliament on Wednesday, November 3, promotes the introduction of levies equalling 1.35 percent of selected liabilities. According to the ministry, the level in question is too high when compared to those in other countries that have already introduced such charges. "For instance, Sweden deducts only 0.036 percent and Germany from 0.02 up to 0.04 percent," said Jaros. He added that banks would probably compensate for such a significant intervention by raising their interest rates and client charges or leaving for countries with more benevolent business environments.
Jaros noted that many countries allocated significant financial resources to save banks during the global crisis and it's because of this that they expect the banks to pay special taxes now. However, the Slovak banking sector was stable and profitable even during the crisis, partly by virtue of the measures introduced by Mikulas Dzurinda's first government ten years ago. "This is why a special tax regime is uncalled for," he added.
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