ActionAid International has urged Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to bring up the issue of imposing a tax on financial transactions to mobilize development funding in next week’s G-20 summit in South Korea.
“The idea is to put quite a small tax on all financial transactions … to try to slow down the rate of speculation that is going on and help prevent future crises,” ActionAid International finance expert Soren Ambrose told the Australian Associated Press.
The move is seen to raise some USD400 billion each year, according to ActionAid.
Ambrose said half of the funding raised would be used at the national level, where the tax is applied, while the remaining half would go to global development initiatives.
