OTTAWA - Mark Carney is calling the bank tax proposal at this week's G20 meetings in Washington a "distraction."
But the Bank of Canada governor says it won't derail international initiatives to reform the financial sector.
Carney says it is absolutely essential that all countries involved in the process agree on new minimum standards for bank capitalization and liquidity to discourage irresponsible risk-taking.
Canada has said it won't impose a bank tax favoured by the large European countries and the United States, even if it stands alone on the issue.
Carney says individual countries will be able to go it alone on a bank tax idea, adding that he expects Canada and some other countries won't introduce a new levy at all.
