He European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing its opinion on the controversial tax on extraordinary bank profits, announced at the beginning of August by the Government of Italyand will make its opinion known “in due time”, which is not binding.
“The ECB President has received the official request for consultation from the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance and we will publish the ECB opinion in due course”They confirmed to Europa Press from Frankfurt.
Last week, in the last Minister council Before the holidays, the Vice President of the Government of Italy and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini, announced by surprise the approval of “a rule of social equity” to tax “extra bank profits in 2023”, which, given the lack of more details, caused the collapse of the price of Italian banks and heavy falls between European entities.
In such a way, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Italy had to clarify less than 24 hours after the first announcement that the new tax on banks “provides a maximum ceiling for the contribution that cannot exceed 0.1% of total assets”, a scope substantially lower than initially estimated by the markets .
Likewise, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Italy assured that the banks that had already adjusted the remuneration of deposits as recommended by the Bank of Italy on February 15, they will not suffer significant impacts as a consequence of the approved regulation.
The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, who has been critical of the central bank’s stance on fighting inflation, took responsibility for the new tax idea earlier this week. “Of course I would do it again, it is an initiative that I wanted,” she stated in an interview with ‘Corriere della Sera’, ‘La Repubblica’ and ‘La Stampa’.
The European rules contemplate that the authorities of the member states they will consult the ECB on any project of legislative provision that falls within their competence, including with respect to rules applicable to financial institutions to the extent that they materially influence the stability of these and of the markets.
Thus, in November 2022 the ECB issued an opinion on the temporary tax proposed by the Spanish Government and in April 2023 it gave its opinion on a temporary solidarity contribution planned by the Government of Lithuania.