Economy

Italy PM Meloni takes ‘full responsibility’ for bank tax

Published

9 months ago

August 15, 2023

Italy PM Meloni takes 'full responsibility' for bank tax

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni looks on, as she is welcomed by U.S. President Joe Biden (not pictured), in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, U.S. July 27, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday took “full responsibility” for last week’s shock decision to impose a one-off bank tax that has been blamed for causing lasting damage to her government’s credibility with financial markets.

In comments to Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera, la Repubblica and La Stampa, Meloni said the 40% levy had no punitive intent.

“I would do it again. Because I believe that the right things must be done…This is a decision that I took (on my own)”, she was quoted as saying by la Repubblica.

“It’s a sensitive issue and I take full responsibility for it.”

In a drive to shore up its political base, Italy’s conservative government unveiled the surprise decision late last Monday, only to backtrack in part by clarifying there was a cap on proceeds 24 hours later – and after having changed the threshold to apply the tax in the meantime.

The new tax targets a rise in profits banks have derived from higher rates.

Sources told Reuters when the measure was announced the Treasury expected to draw less than 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) from the tax. However, prior to the clarification on the cap, calculations pointed to much higher sums.

With Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti noticeably absent from the press conference to announce the tax, Meloni said he had been informed about the decision.

However, other government members had been kept in the dark because of the sensitivity of the matter, she said.

The government had toyed with the idea of taxing banks’ record profits from higher rates but appeared to have set it aside, and Rome’s muddled communication over the issue has caused alarm among international investors.

Asked about a veto posed by junior coalition partner Forza Italian on a potential alliance with France’s Marie Le Pen at next year’s EU parliamentary elections, she said it was too early to discuss any such moves.

“I don’t veto anyone, I don’t feel I have the authority to do that and in any case it’s premature”, she said.

Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

Published

4 months ago

December 26, 2023

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.

The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.

Economy

China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan

Published

4 months ago

December 25, 2023

China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers walk past an under-construction area with completed office towers in the background, in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new district, Guangdong province, China August 25, 2023. REUTERS/David Kirton/File Photo

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy.

With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Saturday it had identified 9,600 projects with planned investment of more than 560 billion yuan.

China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is struggling to regain its footing post-COVID-19 as policymakers grapple with tepid consumer demand, weak exports, falling foreign investment and a deepening real estate crisis.

The 1 trillion yuan in additional bond issuance will widen China’s 2023 budget deficit ratio to around 3.8 percent from 3 percent, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.

“Construction of the projects will improve China’s flood control system, emergency response mechanism and disaster relief capabilities, and better protect people’s lives and property, so it is very significant,” the NDRC said.

The agency said it will coordinate with other government bodies to make sure that funds are allocated speedily for investment and that high standards of quality are maintained in project construction.

($1 = 7.1315 renminbi)

Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

Published

4 months ago

December 25, 2023

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.