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International Financial Transactions (Tax)

At the Treasury, we are keeping a close eye on the debate, but we see it inherently and necessarily as an international initiative. That is why we believe that the IMF and the European Commission—particularly the IMF—have a crucial role in assessing the technical questions and advising Governments of the pros and cons of moving in that direction. Until we have that advice at a global level, we cannot do much at the national level. That is inherent in the nature of the measure. Apart from dealing with a market failure, the other key argument is that the tax would be a good revenue-raiser at a time of fiscal consolidation.