Spanish government plans to levy taxes on banks and power companies profiting from financial crisis

Spain’s six largest financial institutions – CaixaBank, Banco Santander, BBVA, Banco Sabadell, Bankinter and Unicaja – recorded an incredible profit of €16 billion, while energy companies (Repsol, Endesa, Naturgy, Cepsa and Iberdrola) recorded profits of 9.5 billion in the first nine months of the year. That’s a 52% increase from 2021.

“This year, business has been very positive. The costs of the raw material that these companies work with are triggered by the conflict and they have passed it on to consumers, so their income has multiplied,” explained Darío García, analyst at XTB.

In the financial area, interest rate hikes by central banks have made traditional banking much more profitable.

With these measures, the Treasury hopes to collect 3 billion from the banks between 2022 and 2033.

This decision has been criticized by the ECB which fears that the taxes against banks will “distort competition” and ultimately make banking services more expensive for the consumer.

The Fedea (Foundation for Applied Economics Studies) went further, saying that the levies are “highly questionable and that these measures have a strong ideological charge and a clear electoral motivation”.

Image: Pixabay