UK lifts levy on banks to 2.5 bln stg in 2011

Britain said it will raise 2.5 billion pounds ($4 billion) in 2011 from a levy on banks, increasing the amount it is getting from the industry by 800 million in the first year of the plan.

Britain said in June it would introduce a levy on banks that would raise about 2.5 billion pounds a year by 2012-13 when it was fully running. It had expected to raise 1.7 billion pounds this year as the scheme was phased in.

The Treasury said on Tuesday it had increased the levy to raise the full target in the first year, adding it wanted banks to make "a fair contribution" to the potential risks they pose to the financial system and to encourage them to move to less risky funding.