Inma Lidón Valencia
Valencia
Updated Friday, March 22, 2024-12:11
The president of
Caixabank
, José Ignacio
Goirigolzarri
, once again puts the focus on public accounts and the need to balance income and public spending to contain debt, which is "a risk factor" for the Spanish economy. This warning comes in a context in which the European Union recovers the
fiscal rules
that must clean up the finances of the member states after the pandemic and at a time when the
Government of Spain
renounces preparing the General State Budgets for 2024 in the face of the impossibility of reaching agreements with its Catalan and Basque partners, immersed in electoral processes.
"I have always thought that the greatest vulnerability of the Spanish economy is its public accounts and the most worrying point is its low growth," Goirigolzarri warned in his speech before the General Meeting of Shareholders of Caixabank. "Therefore, it is necessary and urgent to carry out a process of
fiscal consolidation of our public finances
that is credible, sustainable and intended to be fulfilled, with the objective of reducing the high level of our public debt, which is, without a doubt, , a risk factor for our economy," he added.
It is not the only message that Goirigolzarri sent to politics after detecting the
"little growth"
of the Spanish economy in the last 15 years, which has opened a gap with Europe of "18 points in 2022" whose origin is in
productivity
. "It is the main weak point of our economy. It cannot be achieved through demand policies, but requires supply policies. And this is synonymous with
far-reaching reforms
that require political and social consensus, which given our parliamentary arithmetic does not seem achievable. in the short term," he admitted.
Nor will it be facilitated by "changes in state policies" in many countries, "which are turning towards
protectionism
, and
growing interventionism
in economies. And this has very profound implications not only for countries but also for companies."
"We must keep in mind that 2024 is an
election
year in which 50% of the world's population is called to the polls; some of these, such as the European elections in June or those in the United States in November, will have great influence on the trends. that I have commented," he recalled without forgetting the invasion of Ukraine and the "geopolitical conflicts" in the Middle East.
In this context, with high prices of energy, raw materials and rising interest rates, "
the Spanish economy has surprised us positively
and has performed better than expected, closing the year with a growth of 2.5%," he analyzed. Goirigolzarri, warning that his forecasts are that, although
inflation
will not be around 2% until 2026, the reductions in
interest rates
and the acceleration of
European funds
"will be a stimulus for activity."
Business volume
Regarding the activity of CaixaBank, the president of the entity wanted to highlight that they are "on the verge" of reaching the figure of
one trillion euros in business volume
and will distribute among their shareholders a dividend of 2,890 million euros, 39. 19 cents per share, which is 70% more than in 2022 and a share appreciation of 119%.
"CaixaBank is today a stronger, more profitable entity and with a greater capacity to finance companies and families. We have a well-defined strategy, with the trust that our clients give us, with great social support and, above all, we have with the best team," Goirigolzarri emphasized in the final part of his speech.
For his part,
Gonzalo Gortázar
, CEO, has presented to the shareholders the details of the entity's activity in 2023 and has highlighted the result of 4,816 million euros, which allows it to maintain a "financial strength and leading competitive position" at the same time which highlighted the management of 30,000 operations in Spain "including mortgage refinancing and other payment agreements, mortgage novations from variable to fixed rates", from which 42,000 clients have benefited.