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British government increases tax on banks

09 February 2011 09:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA-Economics. The British government saddled banks with an extra 800 million pounds (950 mln euro) in tax on Tuesday, drawing protest from the industry as talks between bosses and ministers over bonuses and lending come to a head, APA-Economics reports quoting Reuters.
Chancellor George Osborne said he hoped the move would hurry along a deal under the government’s Project Merlin, which is designed to encourage banks to lend more and rein in bonuses for top bankers. "What I am absolutely focussed on is two things: One, the banks paying a fair share in tax and making sure that they are contributing to the economic recovery. Second, that they lend to businesses -- that is an absolute priority because that is how we are going to get this economy moving," Osborne said.
Last year UKâ€™s budget deficit was 150 billion pound.