I have two reasons to congratulate Dirigentes magazine. The first is obvious: its 35 years of existence, which is a long life for an economic publication in Spain. The second concerns the slogan chosen for this anniversary, “Get ahead of the future”, which could not seem more fitting to me—not only because it evokes an optimistic outlook, so necessary at this time, but also because it aligns with the strategy of Spanish banks, which have their sights set on the recovery of the economy in the medium term.
Like all crises—and perhaps this one more than any other—the coronavirus crisis represents a moment of change and, as such, has brought with it a great many opportunities that did not previously exist. This is how the Spanish banking sector is experiencing it: the pandemic has confronted it with very challenging situations, but at the same time ones full of opportunities to build a better future. A good example of this challenge/opportunity pairing occurred when, once the stay-at-home lockdown was decreed, our banks had to send almost all their employees home—some remained in the offices to continue serving customers in person—and everything continued to function perfectly, without the slightest incident.
And what opportunities did it bring with it? First, it showed that Spanish banks are well prepared and effectively fulfil their role of financing households and businesses and, above all, it showed the extent of their commitment to Spanish society. Our banks, in collaboration with the ICO, quickly channelled more than €120 billion to nearly 600,000 companies—98% of them SMEs—which helped save thousands of businesses from permanent closure during the first months of the crisis.
The launch of moratoria on consumer and mortgage loans was also highly significant, helping to ease the financial situation of nearly one and a half million families and self-employed workers. As a result of all this, customers’ trust in their banks has increased notably. The second opportunity relates to digitalisation, which received a colossal boost during the pandemic. It is a key factor enabling our banks to define their business models and thus address the challenge of profitability.
Digital transformation and sustainability have been the pillars of Spanish banks’ strategy in recent years, and they have also been the objectives chosen by the European Commission for its EU Next Generation programme. This project proposes that we move towards a green, digital, social and more resilient Europe, which makes perfect sense because if we are going to build something new, it is better to do so on forward-looking foundations rather than on obsolete elements. The banking sector can be extremely useful in distributing the European aid envisaged under this programme, as it has the experience and resources to make the selection processes for these funds highly effective, as it already demonstrated with ICO loans.
Without a doubt, this programme represents a unique opportunity to modernise Spain’s productive model—one we cannot afford to waste if we want to emerge from this crisis with a stronger, more competitive and more inclusive economy. Spanish banks will be there, ready to deploy all their resources and capabilities to return as soon as possible to the path of prosperity, health and economic growth.
José María Roldán, Chairman of the Spanish Banking Association
