While other European countries, such as Spain and Hungary, have introduced windfall taxes on banks, analysts said Italy's decision found the market unprepared and was particularly damaging for investor confidence.
In a bid to reassure markets, the Treasury late on Tuesday said the proceeds from the tax would not amount to more than 0.1% of lenders' total assets. The proceeds are anyway expected to remain below 3 billion euros, according to sources in Rome and analyst calculations.