The Minister of Economy, Carlos’s bodywill announce this Wednesday at the Congress of Deputies the name of the new governor of the Bank of Spain (BdE). The elected will be the Minister of Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Jose Luis Escrivá.
Escrivá will not have the support of the PP, which will not propose a candidate for the position of vice-governor either. “We are not here to change the map” affirmed the popular, who refuse to agree with the PSOE on any name that does not guarantee the independence of the BdE. A requirement that Escriva obviously does not meet..
Escrivá’s problem is not his CV. The current Minister of Digital Transformation and Civil Service has the necessary qualifications to hold the position of governor. In other circumstances, that is, if he were not part of the current government, his name could be perfectly acceptable to the PP.
But Escrivá is part of the current government and, as governor of the BdE, he must be in charge of supervising the Spanish banking system and the rest of the financial intermediaries that operate in Spain.
It must also promote the proper functioning and stability of the financial system, as well as the preparation of reports and studies, where appropriate, on the Spanish economy and the government’s economic laws.
Escriva must also oversee the reform of the pension law approved as part of the Recovery Plan and the General State Budget Law.
The incompatibility is obvious. Escrivá participated in both projects as a current member of the government. What objectivity can be expected from someone who will move from the executive position to the Bank of Spain without a break in continuity?
Escrivá’s appointment mirrors that of Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez (MAFO) in 2006 by José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. A meeting that Pedro Sanchez repeatedly criticized for his unsuitability for the position and for his responsibility in the Bankia crisis, among other negligences.
As governor of the BdE, MAFO ignored the warning signals emitted by the Spanish economy and this culminated in the crisis of 2008. He also ignored the warnings of his technicians in order to protect the president who had appointed him. They bear the main responsibility for the collapse of the savings banks. MAFO also denied the existence of the real estate bubble, which ruined thousands of Spaniards. MAFO’s denial caused enormous damage to the country’s economy.
The discredit into which the BdE fell with MAFO could only be repaired after years of hard work on the part of Luis Maria Linde And Pablo Hernandez de Coswhich gave back to the entity the independence and credibility it had always enjoyed.
Today, Sánchez has repeated Zapatero’s mistake and successfully carried out his assault on a key regulatory institution of the Spanish financial and economic system. Escrivá has the benefit of the doubt, but suspicion will fall on him from day one. If the BdE becomes a mere appendage of the government again, as was the case with MAFO, the victims will once again be all Spanish citizens.
