First the US, now Spain also plans to impose wealth tax to battle deficit

Spain will impose a wealth tax in 2011 and 2012 to help slash the public deficit, Finance Minister Elena Salgado said on Thursday.

The wealth tax, which had been suspended in 2008, would go to a weekly cabinet meeting Friday for approval, she said, in Spain's latest effort to show markets it can meet its ambitious deficit-cutting targets.

If reinstated in the same form, the wealth tax would hit about 160,000 people and boost state revenues by about 1.08 billion euros ($1.5 billion), the finance minister told a news conference.

The tax money would roll in during 2012 and 2013, "which are years when we have to carry on our effort to reduce the deficit in accordance with a stability agreement agreed with the European Union," Salgado said.

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