Polish Banks Drop as Top Politician Floats Windfall Tax Plan (1)

Polish bank stocks declined after Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful head of the country’s ruling party, threatened lenders with a windfall tax unless they make client deposits more attractive amid a public outcry over spiraling inflation.

Kaczynski told banks to “come to their senses and radically increase interest on deposits” during a meeting with voters in Bialystok during the weekend. When markets opened on Monday, Warsaw’s WIG-Bank index declined as much as 5.1%.

The discussion over a potential new levy on banks comes on the heels of parliament’s approval of costly loan moratorium legislation, which eroded investor sentiment to ...