London, 25 October 2023 – Responding to Lloyds Banking Group’s announcement this morning that its pre-tax profits for the third quarter of 2023 were £1.9 billion, taking its profits for 2023 so far to £5.7 billion, Fran Boait, co-executive director of Positive Money said:
“Whilst ordinary people are pushed into poverty by soaring interest rates, banks are filling their coffers amidst the misery.
“To raid household incomes whilst paying tens of billions of public money to banks during a cost of living crisis was a massive misstep by the Bank of England, but banks haven’t helped the situation by dragging their feet passing rates on to savers and cutting branches countrywide.”
“With the Autumn Statement on the horizon, the government can redress the unequal impacts of unfair interest rate rises by reversing the tax cut they handed to banks in April, and introducing a windfall tax on bank profits that would generate billions to support those hardest hit.”
Notes
- Lloyds Bank’s Q3 profit announcement can be found here: https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/investors.html
- Higher interest rates mean that the Bank of England is expected to pay an estimated £75bn of interest on banks’ risk free reserves over 2023 and 2024, with a total of around £150bn due to be paid out between 2022 and 2028. For more information see: http://positivemoney.org/wp-content/uploads/Bank-windfall-tax-briefing-2.pdf
- Positive Money is petitioning for this windfall to be taxed: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-hunt-to-tax-the-banks/
- Calls for a windfall tax on banks have been echoed by MPs, including Angela Eagle, John McDonnell, Clive Lewis, Diane Abbott and Richard Burgon
- Polling commissioned by Positive Money found the majority of the public supports a windfall tax on banks: https://positivemoney.org/2023/09/uk-public-support-windfall-tax-on-banks-polling-shows/
- Lloyds Bank has cut 155 bank branches in 2023: https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/lloyds-halifax-bank-of-scotland-bank-branch-closures-in-2023-aim9B9r5MCSq
About
Positive Money campaigns for a money and banking system which supports a fair, democratic and sustainable economy. Set up in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Positive Money is a not-for-profit company funded by charitable trusts and foundations, as well as small donations from its network of over 65,000 supporters. www.positivemoney.org
