The tax on financial transactions which the European Commission wants to introduce will be damaging for the Dutch economy, finance minister Jan Kees de Jager said on Wednesday.

De Jager said that while the government supports the goals of the tax, it will not contribute to financial stability and could hurt the pension sector. He plans to ask the commission to come up with alternatives such as a European bank tax, he told MPs in a briefing.
The central bank said last month the tax would hit the Netherlands hard because of the size of its financial industry.
The European Commission wants to introduce a wide-ranging tax on the trading of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other financial contracts. Britain is also opposed to the plan.