ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott has fired back strongly criticising the government’s decision to tax the assessed liabilities of Australia's largest banks.
After a period of quiet contemplation to digest the consequences of the bank levy contained in the federal budget, ANZ has released a strong statement against the 6 basis point tax.
In an interview with «The Australian Financial Review,» (paywall) Shayne Elliott said there was no stopping the tax given its blanket political support.
However he described the tax as a regrettable policy that is a tax on the millions of ordinary Australians who are bank shareholders and bank customers.
Populist Policies
«It is now time for all our leaders to move on from populist bank bashing so we can work constructively with Parliament and policy makers on how we can best support the Australian economy,» Elliott said.
In line with the comments of the chief executives of the other three major banks, Elliott's comments could be a thinly-veiled threat to increase mortgage rates.
