Romania’s New Government Wants to Scrap ‘Greed Tax’ on Banks

(Bloomberg) --

Romania’s new government wants to annul a controversial “greed tax” on banking assets that prompted a stock-market crash when it was approved almost a year ago.

Calling it “stupid,” Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said Wednesday that his administration is seeking to cancel the levy, as well as a related one on energy companies.

Orban, who leads a minority government, will seek sufficient backing in parliament for the step, possibly via a fast-track procedure that could risk a no-confidence motion in his administration.

The tax “creates serious problems for the industries,” Orban told a conference in Bucharest.

While the previous Social Democrat-led government gave in to demands from the central bank and investors to dial back and delay some of the controversial measures, what was implemented nevertheless boosted power prices and hurt confidence in one of the European Union’s poorest member-states.

Separately, Orban confirmed remarks by his finance minister that a 40% increase in pensions approved by his predecessor will go through as planned in September 2020.

To contact the reporters on this story: Irina Vilcu in Bucharest at isavu@bloomberg.net;Andra Timu in Bucharest at atimu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Andrew Langley, Michael Winfrey

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