Pablo Hernández de Cos: The situation of Spanish banks in the new macro-financial environment

Speech by Mr Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of the Bank of Spain, at the V Foro Banca (banking forum), organised by El Economista, Madrid, 4 October 2022.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Good morning.

Allow me to begin by thanking El Economista for inviting me to participate, once again, in this banking forum, which represents an excellent opportunity to discuss the present situation of the banking industry and the implications of the current macro-financial environment.

Our societies have been hit by several global events (the pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine) in quick succession, generating a highly complex macro-financial environment in which the risks of a global cyclical downturn have been magnified by persistently high global inflation, the tightening of financing conditions stemming from the widespread normalisation of monetary policy and the heightened uncertainty prompted by a broad-based downward revision of growth forecasts.

The question of how the banking industry could be affected by this complex setting is an important one.