Pablo Hernández de Cos: The Spanish banking industry and the economic challenges ahead

Speech by Mr Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of the Bank of Spain, at a meeting with the Spanish Financial Press Association and the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Madrid, 24 June 2022.

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

Good morning:

I wish to begin by thanking the Spanish Financial Press Association (APIE) and the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo for once again inviting me to take part in this meeting, providing me with the opportunity, on this occasion, to address the latest developments in the Spanish banking industry and the challenges ahead.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a new shock for the world economy, just two years after the shock triggered by the pandemic. The political and economic consequences of the war are difficult to predict, but they are already changing the macro-financial environment, characterised by a sharp increase in uncertainty and a persistent surge in inflation. All this, when the Spanish economy was experiencing a recovery – albeit incomplete and uneven across economic sectors – from the economic effects of the health crisis.