The governor of the Bank of England appeared to deal a blow to the Prime Minister’s drive towards a Tobin tax on financial transaction suggesting it was at the bottom of the list of priorities.
Mervyn King was appearing before MPs on the influential Treasury committee when he made the remarks, the Daily Telegraph reports.
King is reported to have said he did not know anyone on the “international circuit” who was enthusiastic about the idea.
Gordon Brown has been pushing the idea of the tax – a levy on all financial transactions – but the proposal has met with stiff resistance from many quarters.
King would be the highest placed official to throw doubt on its credibility and will add to the friction between the Bank and the government.
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