Relations between the PP and the PSOE are far from being able to certify an agreement to renew the leadership of the Bank of Spain. The Minister of Economy, Commerce and Enterprise, Carlos Body, yesterday took a definitive step by convening the Economy Commission of the Congress of Deputies for tomorrow, Wednesday, September 4, at 3 p.m. The environment of the current Minister of Digital Transformation and Civil Service, José Luis Escriva, assumes that he will be the chosen one. The Popular Party, affirming that the “armchair game” was the only proposal received from the government, rules out accepting this appointment. “If it is Escriva, nothing at all,” they say from Genoa. Nor will they propose their own “number two”, as the government traditionally agrees with the opposition.
Minister Escriva is the PSOE’s great bet. He has extensive experience in the banking sector, in institutions such as the European Central Bank (ECB), the Independent Authority for Budgetary Responsibility (AIReF) and the Bank of Spain itself. He has known monetary policy and the control body for four decades and, according to sources close to the former Minister of Social Security, he would be able to implement a profound renovation, especially within a research department with which he has already had some disagreements.
The (great and only) firm proposal of President Sánchez has been the native of Albacete, who has developed a marked political profile that has added to his career and his more than extensive technical knowledge. During the last legislature, disagreements with professional colleagues on the comprehensive development of the pension reform were reported and, according to media such as ‘ABC’, this would not be the favorite of financial entities either. The most popular at any time They rejected the transition from the Council of Ministers to an independent institution like the Bank of Spain..
Once the appointment of the next governor of the Bank of Spain is practically certified, if nothing changes by Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., when the Body must propose Escrivá’s name to the Lower House, it remains to designate the current minister. known. . Popular sources consulted by this media affirm that they will not negotiate or propose any name as deputy governor of the Bank of Spain.
THE “Unwritten law” to renew the management of the Bank of Spain urges the main political groups to agree on the appointment of the governor, chosen by the government, and the deputy governor, chosen by the opposition. Yes indeed, Before there were disagreements and appointments without consensuslike that of Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez (2006-2012), since it is ultimately a decision of the President of the Government. As a precedent on the opposite side and at European level, Luis de Guindos went from the economic portfolio to the vice-presidency of the ECB in 2018.
Since the end of the term of former governor Pablo Hernández de Cos (2018-2024), Spain has a voice but no vote in the ECB Council, where colleagues from the rest of the central banks, among others, debate monetary policy. Margarita Delgado, vice-governor of De Cos, now serving as interim governor, Spain does not have the power to vote on such crucial issues as lowering interest rates. The next nomination will take place on September 12, when a new cut is scheduled, and will probably have Escrivá’s vote.
