By DPA,
Washington: US President Barack Obama Thursday proposed a tax on Wall Street’s biggest banks to recover more than 100 billion dollars in bail-out funds handed out at the height of a devastating financial crisis.
But Obama also said the emergency loans given out since October 2008 were expected to cost the government just 117 billion dollars, down from 341 billion dollars forecast in August.
Congress had approved up to 700 billion dollars for the financial rescue, but most major banks have repaid their loans more quickly than expected.
Obama suggested the new tax was in direct response to massive bonuses that Wall Street’s banks are expected to hand out to their executives this year, prompting widespread anger among a US public that is still weathering tough economic times.
The new Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee aims to recover all of the rescue funds and will be in place for at least 10 years. It applies only to the country’s largest banks – those with assets of more than 50 billion dollars.
My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed,” Obama said in a statement.
“My determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people who have not been made whole, and who continue to face real hardship in this recession,” he said.