The European Central Bank (ECB) openly questions the government's plan to introduce a new tax on banking because it considers that it may be counterproductive.

In an opinion published this Thursday and signed by President

Christine Lagarde herself,

the ECB sees inconsistencies in the government plan and warns against it to the point that it urges the Government to stop the processing, proposed by PSOE and Podemos, until better analyze counterproductive effects.

"The ECB recommends that the legislative proposal

be accompanied by a thorough analysis of the possible negative consequences

for the banking sector, detailing, in particular, the specific impact of the temporary levy on the profitability of the affected credit and financial institutions and on the conditions of competition in the market,

so as to guarantee that its application does not pose risks for financial stability, the resilience of the banking sector and the granting of credits

", states the opinion.

"This recommendation is particularly pertinent in the current highly uncertain economic and financial environment, and given the prospect that credit institutions' loan loss provisions will increase

due to the expected sharp slowdown in real economic activity

. "

In this context, it should be noted that credit institutions have already had to record higher provisions with respect to their exposure to non-financial companies active in sectors with high energy consumption," he warns.

The ECB's opinion is not binding on the Government, but it is a serious warning that is difficult to ignore due to the impact it has on investors.

The central bank has issued an opinion along the same lines on several previous occasions with other member countries, particularly from the Eastern EU.

He objected to tax initiatives in Slovakia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovenia.

His general doctrine so far is that this type of tax should not be imposed to collect, but, in any case, to cover the cost of a possible bankruptcy of a financial institution.

His opposition is based on the fact that raising the fiscal pressure on the banking sector may harm the granting of credit and, therefore, economic recovery.

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