The governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escriva, will officially take office this Tuesday. The former minister will do so supported by a Government Council composed of an overwhelming majority of professionals linked to the left. Until now, no ideological tendency has accumulated such a broad representation within this governing body. There are a total of eight names – if we include Escriva and the vice-governor Soledad Núñez – close to the socialists out of a total of ten. We must add Jordi Pons, designated by the ERC to cover the Catalan quota. In this way, only Fernando Fernández has been appointed on the proposal of the PP.
The Board of Governors of the Bank of Spain approves the general operating guidelines of the Bank. Led by Escriva and Núñez, this governing body has six members with a mandate of similar duration (six years), in addition to the heads of the Treasury –Paula Conthe– and the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) –Montserrat Martínez– who are appointed by the Government and exercise their functions during the legislature. In the hands of the next Executive, there will be the possibility of modifying or maintaining the composition of the Board.
For now, The leadership renewal undertaken by Escrivá tipped the balance in favor of the socialist wing with the entry of Soledad Núñez, former director of the Treasury under former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and Lucía Rodríguez, who comes from the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF), where she already worked under the presidency of Escrivá himself. In this wave of appointments, the name of Jordi Pons: The man who is considered one of the brains of the economic history of the Catalan process has been elected new director of the Bank of Spain as part of a pact between the socialists and Esquerra Republicana.
Núñez, Rodríguez and Pons will be part of the Council alongside the permanent seat of Judith Arnal, former head of cabinet of the former vice-president of the government, Nadia Calviño, when she was Minister of Economy. Other names also come from the Calviño period. Luis Servén was appointed by the current president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 2021 and will hold his position at least until 2027. Carles Manera, former Minister of Economy of the Balearic Islands, was elected in 2020. Economist Fernando Fernandez is the only representative elected by the PP and came to power in 2023.
First differences and parity
The powers of the Council include debating issues related to monetary policy and monitoring the Bank’s contribution to the implementation of the monetary policy of the European System of Central Banks; approving circulars of the Bank of Spain; imposing sanctions the adoption of which falls within its competence; or adopting agreements necessary for the exercise of functions entrusted to the Bank of Spain which are not the exclusive competence of the Executive Commission.
The Bank’s Board also has the power to ratify the appointments of the institution’s general managers and already generated a conflict precisely with the appointments within the board of directors and the general management taken in early September, alleging a lack of transparency in the process by the PP.
One of Escrivá’s premises upon his arrival was to give continuity of its appointment policy in terms of equity between the sexes, as the entity explains after the differences that have emerged in some appointments. Lucía Rodríguez has entered as an advisor to the institution, replacing the new vice-governor, who also replaces a woman. Paloma Marín, for her part, joins the senior management as head of a newly created sector; she will have a voice but no vote in the supervisor’s executive committee. In this same department, he is accompanied by Inés Calderón, who has worked alongside Escrivá since his term as minister in two portfolios.
Hernandez de Cos, Rajoy’s legacy
The last president of the government before the last legislatures of the PSOE, Mariano Rajoy, spent his last days closing the election of Pablo Hernández de Cos as governor of the supervisor, in June 2018. The vice-president, Margarita Delgado, had the consensus of the PP and the PSOE. Once his term ended in June, the balance sheet of the former governor was very positive and, to a certain extent, he acted as an opponent and advisor in the most delicate moments, reviving the reputation of the Bank of Spain and strengthening the research department.
During his term, in fact, he proposed an economic recipe to face the end of the pandemic and move away from the old austerity policies that supported the vision of government members such as Escriva himself, compared to the prudence in spending that Calviño or María defended Jesus Montero. De Cos was also part of the opposition when he dealt with compromised issues such as the increase in the minimum wage, the tax burden or Escrivá’s pension reform.
