英语文摘：France eyes tax on banks after providing aid during crisis

PARIS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- France is working on ways to tax banks after providing them with tens of billions of euros in assistance during the financial crisis, Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said Wednesday.

"The whole question is what the amount of this tax is and how it affects them," Lagarde told local radio RMC in an interview, saying a tax on banks can pay for aid handed out during the financial crisis.

France has been working on the tax for several months, Lagarde said.

"We have discussed it with members of the International Monetary Fund. We have asked Dominique Strauss-Kahn (chief of the International Monetary Fund) to make us proposals," Lagarde said.

Though inspired by Germany, the French minister pointed out a bank tax to address France's problem is "not necessarily exactly like the Germans."

Germany has drafted a bank tax aimed at funding bailouts and is due to launch it at the end of this month with Lagarde's presence as a observer.

Britain is also expected to unveil new bank taxes when the government presents its budget plan on Wednesday, according to reports.

After the global economic crisis, France, like its western allies, last year provided tens of billions of euros in loans and guarantees to banks and has introduced a small-scale tax on bankers' bonuses as financial alarms later died away.