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ViennaFor many Italians, it would probably be the ultimate nightmare. For the Deutsche Bundesbank, on the other hand, it seems to be a proven way of eliminating the potential risks of the Italian system: the introduction of mandatory obligations.
Karsten Wendorff, head of the public finance department of the Deutsche Bundesbank, proposed such a measure in a commentary on the "FAZ". "The Italian population would be forced to buy solidarity bonds, for example, according to the net wealth of households," the report says. If Italy manages its debts as promised and pays a reasonable return, Wendorff also does not see Italian households burdened. Since citizens then in one way or another support the problem, they also have a strong personal interest in sound public finances and a corresponding policy is logic.
Once before, a similar proposal caused a sensation. This is only when it does not come from a national central bank, but from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In October 2013, the organization published a report titled "Taxing Times" in which the authors proposed a mandatory single levy on all private badets of 10%. According to the IMF, such a special tax could bring the debt of eurozone countries back to its level before the onset of the financial and economic crisis. At the time, reference was also made to examples from the past.
As customers of the bank bleed
Of course, the IMF tried to calibrate immediately. This is a purely theoretical thinking game, "there is no such request". However, at that time, there were also experts who could really win this idea. The chief economist of Commerzbank, Jörg Krämer, said, for example, that a levy on capital for heavily indebted countries could make sense. The precondition for this, however, is a "considerable" financial wealth of citizens. The whole discussion took place in an extremely sensitive phase.
Just months before the report was released, affluent people in Cyprus were asked to pay. The banking sector was in trouble because of the Greek haircut and the country could only be saved with the help of international investors. Among other things, the savers of the Bank of Cyprus had to give up with a deposit of more than 100,000 euros to 47.5% of their capital, they received shares of the bank. The inclusion of savings was a condition of the lenders, among which the IMF. Analysts estimate that Russian entrepreneurs had about 30 billion euros on Cypriot banks before imposing the compulsory levy. This should hit the balance sheet in the first place. Cyprus was positioned as a tax haven.
Friday stress test
Even in Italy, there was already a single levy for savers – during the 1992 monetary crisis under the Giuliano Amato government. She had six thousand dollars in bank balance. The maneuver served the government to restore finances.
That it comes back until now is an open question. The fact is that the rating agency S & P has lowered the outlook for Italy from "stable" to "negative". Italy has a debt of more than 130% of gross domestic product. For 2019, the country forecasts a deficit of 2.4% instead of 0.8%. This is why Brussels has problems with Rome. The government did not want to give in. Above all, development could weigh heavily on the country's banks, as these hold large stocks of Italian government bonds. If they lose value, "they reduce the capital position of banks," warned ECB President Mario Draghi. Friday will show how much institutions are capitalized. The ECB publishes the results of its bank stress test. (NST)
("Die Presse", printed edition, 29.10.2018)
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