Darling at Treasury Committee

LONDON (Reuters) - Below are highlights from a testimony by Chancellor Alistair Darling to parliament's Treasury Committee on Tuesday.

DARLING ON BANK TAX

"I am more optimistic now that we can get an international levy or tax than I was six months ago."

"When the Prime Minister announced our intention at the St Andrews meeting of the G20 finance ministers last autumn there was a fair amount of hostile comment. When the finance ministers of the G7 met in Canada at the beginning of February ... I was encouraged by the fact that governments that have hitherto been either sceptical or silent on the subject said this is a real problem for all of us."

"I think you will find the finance ministers ... are far more amenable now at looking at seeing if we can put in a place a system that works."

DARLING ON STIMULUS EFFECT

"It's correct that some of the stimulus, not every measure, but some of the measures that I announced in November 2008 at the pre budget report are being withdrawn. The biggest single stimulus was a VAT cut. And I said explicitly that was going to run for 13 months and I believe that my decision was right.

"There's evidence now that the fourth quarter GDP figures which the committee will no doubt be aware the figures published at 9.30 this morning shows that the fourth quarter growth was 0.4 percent of GDP, it's been revised up slightly.

"Part of that was due to the fact that expenditure was brought forward into 2009 which is what I wanted to do. Had that run on further than that, not only would have there been a loss to our revenues, but it wouldn't have had the same effect and the scrappage scheme which is another scheme that has been very successful in boosting the motor industry, that was time limited as well."