Shares of Czech banks were down on Monday a day after Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) unveiled a plan to ask banks to pay 10 to 20 percent of their dividends into a new state development fund.
Mr Babiš said in a televised interview on Sunday that his centre-right government is seeking new revenue streams against a backdrop of slowing economic growth. He would not say whether the payments should be voluntary or mandatory.
He rejected the idea of a new bank tax proposed by his junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, after having earlier said it was an option. The Social Democrats would see the tax progress from 0.05 percent to 0.3 percent, raising some 14 billion crowns.