15:09 - 8.08.2023

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet approved the unexpected introduction of a windfall tax on additional bank profits.

ABC.AZ reports with reference to the foreign media that the new tax could bring the government approximately 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

Deputy Prime Minister Mateo Salvini told a news conference in Rome that the windfall tax, to be set at 40%, will be used to finance tax deductions and provide mortgage support to first-time homebuyers.

Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani told Corriere della Sera that the tax decision is an inevitable consequence of the European Central Bank's interest rate hike. The Meloni government has been criticizing the interest rate policy of the European Central Bank for a long time.
Futures on the benchmark FTSE MIB index on the Italian Stock Exchange fell 1.3% after the tax decision, while shares in lender UniCredit SpA fell 3.6% after Monday's close.