The acting Vice President of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has today placed the conversion of taxes on banking and energy companies from temporary to permanent as one of the key elements in the negotiations she is maintaining with the PSOE to support the investiture of Pedro Sánchez. She said it at a press conference held in Barcelona during a working session within the framework of Spain's European presidency in which she criticized the "historical" transfer of income from citizens to financial entities.
After the round of presentation of results of the Spanish banks corresponding to the first nine months of the year began this morning, the vice president has been especially critical of the attitude of the sector. "As a consequence of the rate rise there has been the largest transfer of income from families to financial institutions" in history, she declared in a joint appearance with the European Commissioner for Employment, Nicolas Schmit.
The vice president did not want to specify if they were also negotiating a toughening of these taxes. What she did want to make clear is that today the PSOE proposal is to evaluate its operation in 2024 after two years of application to determine its continuity. This evaluation position is the same one that the PP maintained during the general election campaign. "Today the party does not accept that proposal," according to Díaz.
The person responsible for employment also recalled that the high profits of banking occur at a time when the sector in general continues not to reward the deposits of retail clients. The vice president had dinner yesterday in Barcelona with representatives of the Foment employers' association where they analyzed the political situation in Spain.
At the same press conference, the Commissioner for Employment praised in Díaz's presence some of the Government's proposals on labor matters, although he also pointed out points of improvement in the labor market in Spain. Among these he has highlighted the high unemployment rate and, at the same time, the difficulty in finding some profiles for companies.
