Gov’t to force banks to separately account for income from holdings of state debt

Banks will be required to separately account for their earnings on holdings of t-bills and gov’t bonds: The Madbouly Cabinet approved yesterday amendments to the Income Tax Act that will, if enacted, force banks and financial institutions separately account on their income statements for returns from their investments in government debt, according to a statement from the Madbouly Cabinet. “The move would bring current accounting practices in line with international best practices” and allow the government to tax earnings on these yields in a “fairer” way, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said. We’ll have more on the story as it unfolds.