Carlos Torres (BBVA) responds to the statement made by Díaz and Belarra: "The work carried out by companies is irreplaceable"

• Results BBVA registers a record profit of 6,420 million and will distribute the highest cash dividend in 14 years

The record results of BBVA have served as a hanger this Wednesday for the last stretch of the Government to Spanish businessmen.

Both the second vice president and Minister of Labor,

and the Minister of Social Rights,

, have used Twitter to demand the freezing of variable mortgages and the "moderation of benefits".

"The crisis cannot be an excuse to earn more," Díaz wrote this morning.

Hours later, the president of the entity,

, responded to both by defending the private company and describing his role as "irreplaceable."

"History is full of examples of economies and societies that abandoned private and business initiatives for

," Torres said during the presentation of the bank's annual accounts in Madrid.

"In a society like the one we have, of the market, in which private initiative is based on the correct allocation of resources, that is what leads to investment that creates employment, economic growth and well-being in the long term. Under that optics is the one we have to consider the work carried out by companies, which is irreplaceable", he pointed out.

To questions from journalists, Torres has veiledly referred to the words of Belarra or Díaz.

"Beyond one statement or another, the country model we have, I trust that it will continue to be based on what works, which is the market economy.

, has said.

He has also highlighted the role of private companies in the economy itself.

"The role of the company is not at odds with society, quite the contrary. We want to create opportunities for everyone. Perhaps having results with such a good evolution can be misinterpreted", he pointed out, in the sense that profit and profitability are not always They go hand in hand.

"Now we have a rate normalization process that leads to a recovery of what a sustainable company has to be: rent at least the cost of capital, because if not, you can't attract capital and that's the worst thing that could happen to it. to Spain. Not attracting capital to the banking sector, which is so essential for the country's development," he concluded.

BBVA earned

in 2022 , 38% more than the previous year and a figure that exceeds its previous historical record, which was 6,126 million in 2007. As soon as the results were known, Vice President Yolanda Díaz wrote a message on Twitter in which he said: "While the rise in the Euribor will make the average mortgage more expensive by €250 a month, BBVA's profits grow 38% to reach €6,420M, the highest in its history The crisis cannot be an excuse to earn more. Freeze mortgages, moderate benefits".

Shortly after, his alliance partner in the Executive and leader of Podemos, Ione Belarra, followed in his wake and used the same social network to speak in the same direction: "BBVA has had extraordinary benefits during 2022 at a time when the "People in our country are having a hard time. We need public intervention in the economy to stop variable-rate mortgages. That those who have more pay what corresponds to them".

Both thus resumed a claim that Unidas Podemos has made on several occasions in recent months and that involves the freezing of variable mortgages to alleviate the impact of the rise in the Euribor on the most vulnerable families.

But beyond that, both added fuel to the verbal clash that the Executive and managers of the largest companies in the country have been leading in recent weeks.

Juan Roig

, president of Mercadona, was the first to come to the fore when Belarra herself referred to him as a "ruthless capitalist."

CEOE came out in his defense and since then, businessmen and a part of the Executive maintain the climate of tension.

The employers alleged that "

self-employed workers, merchants and farmers, small and medium-sized companies and, also, large companies."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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• Yolanda Diaz

• Ione Belarra