UN calls for ‘billionaires tax’ to help poor

The United Nations on Thursday called for a tax on billionaires to help raise more than $400 billion a year for poor countries.

An annual lump sum payment by the super-rich is one of a host of measures including a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, currency exchanges or financial transactions proposed in a new report that accuses wealthy nations of breaking promises to step up aid for the less fortunate.

The UN’s annual World Economic and Social Survey also says it is critical to find new ways to help the world’s poor as pledged cash fails to flow. The report estimates that the number of people around the globe worth at least $1 billion rose to 1,226 in 2012. AFP