The CEO of Barclays calls on UK to consider investing on fresh bank tax

CS Venkatakrishnan, CEO of Barclays PLC, said that a developing tax on banks in the UK could hinder government efforts to increase the growth in the economy and requested the government to consider other measures. With British lenders employing about 10% of the population in the country, an additional tax will harm an important sector in the economy, Venkatakrishnan told investors at a conference hosted by the London Bank in New York. He also argued that British lenders already pay a higher rate than their counterparts in the US and across Europe. “The route to growth is through investment, through appropriate forms of spending and taxes, but not through a bank tax,” Venkatakrishnan said. “Additional banking tax would damage the economy as a whole.” The remarks of Venkatakrishnan come after shares of British borrowers took off last month, while chancellor of treasure trove Rachel Reeves renewed calls faced to raise billions of pounds of much -needed income by placing a infection tax on banks. In a report on August 29, the Institute of Public Policy Research said that an annual levy would raise £ 32.3 billion in the current five-year parliamentary term and Reeves would give £ 3.6 billion in extra space against her most important fiscal rule that taxes should cover daily expenses in 2029-30. Reeves have said before that she has no plans to change the way interest is paid on the bank of England’s reserves. But she now faces a harder autumn budget, with Bloomberg Economics estimating that the chancellor has to find £ 30bn to rebuild the slender buffer of £ 9.9bn against her fiscal rule she had in March. In the extensive conversation, Venkatakrishnan said Barclays recently saw a sustained pick-up in investment banking activities, with clients feeling a relative sense of stability about the future of tariff policy and the macroeconomic situation around the world. He expects it to go through the rest of the third term and in the fourth quarter. Last year, Barclays kicked off a three -year plan to improve the profitability of its investment bank, a unit that includes the origin of trade, advice and capital markets. At the time, the company also promised to return at least £ 10 billion to shareholders during the period and to increase its return on tangible equity to more than 12% – a plan that managers said they were on track to complete. Venkatakrishnan said the company would provide investors with new targets before the current year expired. © 2025 Bloomberg MP This article was generated from an automatic news agency feed without edits to text.