Gortázar (CaixaBank) maintains that the banking tax is "unfair, distorting and counterproductive"

MADRID, 11 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The CEO of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Gortázar, has charged against the temporary tax that the Government wants to approve to tax the income of the main financial entities in Spain, considering it "unfair, distorting and counterproductive".

The CEO of CaixaBank has rejected, in an interview for KPMG Trends, that the sector is going to have "extraordinary profits" and has stated that, instead, part of the profitability that the sector would not have generated for ten years of negative rates. In addition, he has indicated that the sector in Spain --excluding activity abroad-- still has a profitability "below its cost of capital", while the prices of banks continue "below their book value" .

On the other hand, he has pointed to the possible "distortion" of the measure's competition, with which the Government wants to temporarily collect close to 3,000 million euros between 2023 and 2024, as there are entities that will be subject to the tax and others that no, like international banking, shadow banking and other local competitors; and he has recalled the regulations of the European Banking Authority (EBA, for its acronym in English), which includes the obligation to pass on all the costs of a loan.

CaixaBank already announced last July that its income would be reduced by around 400 or 450 million euros a year due to this new temporary tax. Gortázar explained that this amount "will reduce" the bank's profits in the same proportion", and stressed that the sector would have to pay it "even if a strong recession occurs", a situation that "could generate financial stability problems".

"If the rate is introduced, it should be calculated on extraordinary profits (in the event that they occur), as proposed by the European Union for the energy sector," he concludes in this regard.

Regarding the evolution of CaixaBank and banking on the stock market, Gortázar has defended that his entity is the one that has appreciated the most so far this year among the 20 largest banks in Europe, although he has recalled that, in the long term, the sector still has low valuations.

In this regard, he explained that the sector continues with returns below the cost of capital, something that investors observe with "a certain degree of skepticism" and that "disincentivizes" the retention of profits to sustain growth, which would be a factor of instability for the economy. For this reason, he has defended the need for profitability to "clearly" exceed the cost of capital "to boost the economy".

Regarding the impact of the rise in the Euribor, the CEO of CaixaBank believes that it will have an impact on credit, especially in the long term, although financing for companies in the short term will continue with some demand, in such a way that the bank expects to improve the volume of credit between 2% and 3% this year, a percentage "somewhat above the sector."

In mortgage credit, Gortázar has indicated that 25% of the total mortgage portfolio of his entity is at a fixed rate, while 70% of the production of mortgage loans in the last six years has been at a fixed rate. "This means that a good part of our clients will not suffer a rise in the cost of their mortgages", explained the manager.

On the other hand, the manager has indicated that delinquency would not yet present problems, neither in the short term nor in loans with ICO guarantees, and has positively assessed the data on employment and indebtedness of families and companies.

"The private sector, not the public sector, is much less indebted than in the previous crisis, which is a very important factor when it comes to facing a rise in rates and inflation", he maintained before indicating the possibility of a increase in non-performing loans in 2023.

Finally, among other issues, Gortázar has addressed the staff adjustment that the bank has made in the last year. He has recalled that 6,500 departures "voluntary and with generous compensation that were what the employees deserved" were agreed, and has rejected that more adjustments will be made.