Financial Times slams 'disastrous' windfall tax

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 12 - The Financial Times took aim at the economic policy of Premier Giorgia Meloni on Saturday, describing the introduction of a windfall tax on banks' profits as its "biggest blunder so far".
    In an article titled 'Italy's disastrous bank tax', the London outlet said the move, announced following a cabinet meeting last Monday and partially reversed following the hostile reaction of bankers, investors and economists the following day, has brought the government's economic record "under harsh and justified scrutiny".
    "The incoherence and shortcomings of the Meloni government's economic policies are now there for everyone to see," read the article, citing analysts and experts and saying the executive "avoids serious economic reform, has no taste for market-based competition and panders to the voters and special interests that form the base of its support".
    Last week's announcement of a new 40% windfall tax on banks' surplus profits caused immediate stock market turmoil.
    The losses were partially reversed after the government said the windfall tax would be capped at 0.1% of institutes' assets, but skepticism remains, with Moody's saying Thursday that the measure is "credit negative".
    The Financial Times added that until now much of Meloni's economic policy "has gone under the radar".
    "One reason is that, instead of concentrating on the coalition's economic policies, many commentators have chosen to focus either on its foreign policy or on its rightwing cultural agenda at home," the paper said.
    "But any assessment of a government's overall performance must take into account its economic record," it added. (ANSA).