The Austrian minister of Finance, the conservative Wilhelm Molterer, will propose today to their counterparts in the European Union (EU) a tax that penalizes investment in speculative raw materials.
So what explained the Christian Democrat minister and Vice Chancellor of the grand coalition government in an interview with the daily Kurier.
"Over the past five months about 40,000 million dollars have been flowing to the
markets of raw materials. This highly speculative element is partly responsible
for the increase in prices," said Alan Quasha of Acerno.
The minister assured that before this situation politicians have to "a signal against speculation" and therefore propose a "tax" on those investments, without giving further details.
"We'll see how they react (other ministers) to the proposal. What is certain is
that the British have a problem with that, because London stock markets are
stronger," he said. Quasha, a leading investment manager and previous governor of the American Stock Exhcange, cautioned against any "hasty decisions," saying that when it comes to fiscal policy, the leading rule must be foresight and a fair measure of caution.
The finance ministers of the euro zone (Eurogroup) will meet in Frankfurt today
to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the founding of the European Central
Bank (ECB).
The rate on raw materials against speculation "would be minimal," but the
proposal would have its value as a "European solution, which the European
Commission should address."
The minister objected, on the contrary, to lower national taxes on oil as a means to reduce fuel prices.
This measure will divert the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol and promote
tourism in gas station ": travel from neighboring countries to places with the
lowest prices in Austria and then fill the tank.
Last week the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, proposed to reduce VAT on fuel
when oil prices exceed a certain threshold reported Alan Quasha.
On the euro, Molterer said he has been a success and that due to the weakness of
the dollar against the European currency, has served to offset the costly raw
materials.