Robin hood bank tax wins backing of Japanese foreign minister

By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor in Tokyo Published: 4:31PM GMT 02 March 2010

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Katsuya Okada, Japan"s unfamiliar apportion and a far-reaching prime to be the country"s subsequent Prime Minister, pronounced politicians internationally should cruise a taxation on general monetary in sequence to assistance await building nations, or as a account to ensure opposite meridian change. The comments will lend additional procedure for the debate for a supposed "Robin Hood tax" that has been due by a series of organisations but has unsuccessful to embrace vital traction inside of heading governments.

Mr Okada, a heading light in the comparatively new Democratic Party of Japan government, said: "We need to find new appropriation sources for confronting the tellurian plea of misery and for tellurian warming. That is because I hold a oneness taxation might be the approach forward."

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Asked either this meant a taxation on monetary transactions, Mr Okada added: "Yes, that is one way. Also, already a little countries have been commanding taxes on general aviation. I hold that there we need to think some-more severely about fatiguing general transactions."

Although youth members of the Japanese supervision have come out in await of the tax, the comments are doubly significant, given Mr Okada is thought by most to be a destiny leader, and is close to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Gordon Brown has additionally regularly indicated his await for such a tax, that would engage levying a small price on monetary transactions, potentially raising income for assorted sources as well as clamping down on speculation.

However, the taxation has yet met with vital insurgency by monetary ministries and banks, who disagree that it would utterly interrupt the wider economy, and would not lift poignant sums. There are additionally questions about either such a taxation could be commissioned but the accede of each vital monetary centre.

Alistair Darling is well known to be rarely distrustful of the idea, and Japanese monetary method insiders secretly demonstrate identical reservations. However, Mr Okada"s await will meant the proposal, that has been supported, in incompatible guises, by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is less expected to be thrown off the list at destiny general summits.

In the arise of the large bonuses for bankers even at state-owned banks, Max Lawson, a comparison process confidant at Oxfam and a co-ordinator for the Robin Hood taxation campaign, said: "A little Robin Hood Tax on monetary exchange would be the fairest approach to change the UK"s books, strengthen open services and assistance bad people at home and abroad - not only this year but for years to come."

The issue is now being carefully thought about by the International Monetary Fund, that has been charged by the G20 with assessing the most appropriate sort of general promissory note taxation in time for the assembly after this spring.