The governor of Bank of SpainJosé Luis Escrivá, has defended that His profile was “the roundest” to assume that responsibility and has assured that the controversy generated at the national level by his appointment has caused “confusion” among his colleagues at the European Central Bank (ECB). In an interview given this Thursday to the Onda Cero program ‘Más de uno’, Escrivá was skeptical about the effectiveness of cap rental prices in stressed areas.
Escrivá made these statements shortly before the start of the Housing sector conferencewhich brings together the regional councilors with the minister of the sector, Isabel Rodríguez. The former minister has acknowledged that he is not aware of any “empirical” evidence that the establishment of stressed areas – where rental prices are very high – and the price control that this entails “manages to lower the price of housing.”
The entity itself stated in a recent report that the shortage of supply was responsible for these high prices and was the main challenge to overcome. The agency calculated, specifically, that it would be necessary the incorporation of 600,000 properties to the market in order to balance supply with current demand for the creation of new homes. There are eleven autonomous communities in which the number of new homes ready to move into that come on the market per year It is not enough to cover even half of the existing demand..
He found out about the appointment only a few days before
Regarding his appointment, the former minister of Pedro Sánchez’s Government has explained that he found out about it only “three or four days before” becoming effective and he has denied that he was the one who directly asked the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to appoint him to the position: “That is not like that,” he declared.
The head of the entity considers it “logical” that, given that the decision to appoint the governor has to be made directly by the president, he would exchange some opinion on the matter with a minister who has a recognized career as a central banker and official of the Bank of Spain. “The Ministry of Digital Transformation is an idea of the President of the Government that It makes all the sense in the world and even more reinforced with Public Function“, he concluded, to deny that said ministry (and not the Economy) was given to him while waiting to appoint him to another position.
Escrivá does not understand that in Spain his independence at the head of the BdE is questioned for having previously been a minister, when more than a third of the current members of the BdE Governing Council of the ECB They are, in fact, former ministers. He has cited, among others, the case of the governor of the Bank of Finland and former European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn, who requested a leave of absence from the entity to run for office. Thus, he has assured that the controversy at the internal level has caused “confusion” among his colleagues.
“Having been in government responsibilities capitalizes you additionally”
From his point of view, what has prevailed in his election has been the technical profile in the field of financial systems: that of a central banker, a person with very long extensive experience, knowledge of the financial system, official of the ECB, Bank of Spain and Bank for International Settlements of Basel. Also playing an important role, in his opinion, was the independence already demonstrated when he launched the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) from scratch.
“Having been in government responsibilities capitalizes you additionally, because allows you to respond very quickly” in times of crisis“and that is why people with sufficient technical capacity and experience in the field of Government are chosen,” he highlighted.
Does not comment on BBVA’s takeover bid for Sabadell
Just as his predecessor, Pablo Hernández de Cos, did during his last speech in the Congress of Deputies, Escrivá has insisted that he should not give an opinion on the public acquisition offer (OPA) by BBVA on Banco Sabadell. He explained that he neither can nor should rule on issues other than solvency because “there is another institution that has the experience and powers” to do so, in reference to the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC). “Everyone is within their own area of responsibilities,” he emphasized.
Escrivá has referred to the report prepared by the BdE, which was incorporated into that published by the European Central Bank. The issuer approved by no opposition the offer on September 5. “It is very important that When there are different independent institutions involved, each one speaks about their own thingof which he is a specialist,” Escrivá remarked, recalling that the opinion that the banking regulator has to issue focuses exclusively on the solvency of the resulting entity.
