Spain to slap temporary taxes on banks, power firms as inflation bites

SPAIN will hit power companies and banks with temporary taxes that should rake in 7 billion euros (S$9.9 billion) in 2023-2024 to help Spaniards cope with soaring inflation, the government said on Tuesday, triggering a selloff in some banking shares.

Sabadell fell as much as 12 per cent after the announcement, while Bankinter, and Caixabank dropped around 10 per cent, before paring losses.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Parliament in a state of the nation speech that annual revenue in 2023 and 2024 from a tax on extraordinary profits of power utilities made this year and next should reach 2 billion euros, while the surprise tax on financial institutions would bring in 1.5 billion euros a year.

Sanchez said the government would impose the tax on “big banks as they were already starting to benefit from (expected) interest rate rises”.

The government would not provide any details on the planned rates or how the levies would work, saying only they would apply to companies with a turnover of at least 1 billion euros.

But analysts said banks were already under pressure from recession fears and the possibility that any rate hikes might not be as significant as expected.

“The impact on Spanish banks has been immediate because this measure was not expected and it has come as a cold shower,” said Nuria Alvarez, an analyst at Madrid-based brokerage Renta 4.

The levy would put further pressure on lenders’ ability to generate profits at a time when their provisions are also likely to rise, she said, adding that banks with largely domestic operations were more affected than those with more diversified businesses such as BBVA or Santander, which were down around 3.7 per cent.

Shares in utilities Iberdrola and Naturgy were down between 0.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent. The government had already said it was going to tax power firms.

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Sanchez said inflation, caused to a large extent by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was the biggest challenge for Spain, likening it to “a serious illness of our economy that impoverishes everyone, especially the most vulnerable groups”.

Sanchez also announced 100 euros a month in complementary scholarships for students older than 16 years who already receive scholarships, and free multiple-trip tickets for suburban and medium-distance trains between September and end- December. REUTERS