AKEL proposal on the banks’ windfall revenues: Aiming for the obvious, provide support to Cypriot society

AKEL proposal on the banks’ windfall revenues: Aiming for the obvious, provide support to society
17 May 2024, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
AKEL yesterday tabled a bill proposal to impose an extraordinary levy on the bank’s windfall revenues, which due to the rise in interest rates have taken off and exceeded €1 billion in 2023. The extraordinary levy – which will be in place for 2024 and 2025 – will generate additional government revenues of €50 million annually. Together with other financial resources foreseen in the proposal, it will endow the creation of a special solidarity fund to provide financial support to borrowers and assist the State’s housing policy.
AKEL’s proposal is a response to the Government’s unwillingness to effectively support society due to the growing insecurity and, in particular, the rapid increase in interest rates. It follows the example of other EU countries. In particular, it is based on the example of Spain and hence safeguards both financial and fiscal stability.
To those engaging in scaremongering about the proposal’s implementation the answer is simple. The country’s credibility is not affected by supporting society; on the contrary, a prosperous society is a component of a strong economy. If the Nicos Christodoulides government had promoted a comprehensive plan to deal with price increases/inflation, the AKEL proposal would have been meaningless.
We therefore call on them to abandon their scaremongering and join AKEL in demanding the government to do the obvious, namely to support society.