Windfall tax on banks will further restrict lending - banking lobby ZBP chair
The introduction of an additional burden on banks in the form of a windfall tax will further restrict lending, according to Tadeusz Bialek, chairman of the Polish banking lobby ZBP.
"Every additional tax increases the cost of credit and limits its availability," Bialek told a conference.
He reported that in the first months after the introduction of the bank tax, interest rates on loans increased by 0.27 percentage points (with a reference rate of 1.5 percent).
He assessed that although interest rates are high, the profitability of the banking sector remains low.
He presented data on ROA in selected sectors of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (as at the end of the first quarter of 2025). The ROA of the banking sector was 1.68 percent and was lower than in many other industries.
He said that the windfall tax was introduced where there was no other form of fiscal bank tax, with Hungary being the only exception.
At the end of May, the Ministry of Finance announced that it was not currently conducting any analyses or consultations on the introduction of a tax on excess bank profits, and that the finance ministry's analytical activities were focused on ensuring the effectiveness of the existing tax system solutions.
seb/ han/ nl/