The international community could help boost development aid by taxing weapons exports and aircraft fuel, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said in a newspaper interview to be published on Saturday. In the interview, with the Frankfurter Rundschau daily, Eichel repeated his scepticism about French President Jacques Chirac's proposal for a tax on speculative financial transactions, the paper said. However, the weapons and airline fuel taxes could make "a fundamental contribution to the financing of development aid" the paper quoted Eichel as saying. He added it would not be possible to introduce such taxes "overnight". Chirac made his proposal for a financial transaction tax to the Davos World Economic Forum on Wednesday. He said the levy could also apply to fuel for air and sea transport or could be added to airline ticket prices. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Friday Chirac's idea could help fund debt reduction for Africa but said he doubted rich nations would agree to it. --SP 1938 Local Time 1638 GMT
