Spaniards with surprise and confusion on the banks the latest proposals from the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), which they consider unfair. In an interview on Antena 3, Christine Lagarde yesterday recommended to the clients of their banking entities to increase the remuneration of deposits, given that the rise in interest rates is not yet reflected in the remuneration of the loads.
Sources from the financial sector explain that the low remuneration of depositors is the result of the monetary policy of the European Central Bank chaired by Lagarde, since it is directly related to the excessive liquidity with which the institution has flooded the financial market for years. It was one of the conflict measures caused by the financial crisis of 2008 and the Covid crisis. In fact, the ECB has doubled its balance sheet since 2020.
Thus, banks do not need money at the moment, so it is not appropriate to attract savings as a reward. What is needed is to attract funds for financial transactions that leave commissions, such as investment funds, savings insurance, etc.
“The existing liquid must be drawn down first”, sources tell the bank consulted by EXPANSIÓN.
The sector wants to know when there will no longer be so much money in the market, since in its opinion reducing the balance to the number of 15,000 million cash per month, as Lagarde announced last December, is not enough. This withdrawal of stimulus will last until at least the summer of 2023, so banks will continue to have full balance sheets, which are trying to take unattractive savings from their customers.
Industry sources are expressing surprise at the ECB president’s statements because until now there has been no official directive from the institution regarding the remuneration of depositors.
Banks also argue that there is real competition in Spain and that customers are free to look for better products in another entity if theirs does not offer what they are looking for.
In particular, they defend that the payment of depositors depends on the commercial strategy of each bank.
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Anticipated ExpANSIÓN, the main assets will start to pay more in the second half of the year, after a good part of the liquidity of the ECB returned in June.
In fact, the financial director, José García Cantera, acknowledged this in his speech at the bank’s Investor Day last Tuesday in London.
Lagarde is not the only one who wanted to open the debate on the remuneration of depositors according to the rise of interest.
In Britain, Harriett Baldwi, president of the country’s treasury, requested explanations in a letter to the main English banks -Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest-, for the reason why they did not improve the remuneration of savings, but wages rose. to Cius “While consumers are always advised to shop around for the best deals, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the biggest banks are using their most loyal customers to pay profits and pay the CEO,” Baldwi said.
The Bank of Spain refused to open this discussion for the moment. But the banks are to be expected soon. In fact, the most important thing in the region will be next week with the president Margarita Delgado. It is not in the agenda, but from the sectors for the position that will now be mentioned after Lagarde’s words.
