BRIC countries oppose bank tax

BUSAN: BRIC countries on Friday opposed a US and European nations-backed proposal at the G-20 finance minister’s meet to impose a ‘bank tax’ and pressed for expeditious reform of international financial institution International Monetary Fund.

Many developed countries have floated the idea of a tax on banks to build a corpus to fund future bailouts. “Bric nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) do not feel the need of a special levy on banks or bank tax. The unanimous view was that the financial regulatory structure in their economies is very robust and their financial structures did not in any way contribute to the financial crisis,” India’s finance secretary Ashok Chawla told ET after the meeting. Host South Korea was also a part of the meeting of the BRIC finance ministers and central banks chiefs.

The meeting was held ahead of the G-20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting that got underway on Friday. Mr Chawla said the the finance ministers from the the BRIC nations and South Korea met to coordinate their stance on various issues to be discussed at the G-20 forum including the prospects of growth in the current scenario.