Banks in Spain received around €39 billion before taxes in 2023, a record high due to the sudden increase in interest rates implemented by the European Central Bank to combat inflation, which has affected many families’ pockets. At the same time, banks have benefited from the interest offered by the Bank of Spain on their deposits, which increased from -0.5% to 4% within a year. Despite this, Sumar does not agree with this situation and demanded that the institution led by Pablo Hernández de Cos disclose the amounts paid to each entity in February.
The Bank of Spain responded that this disclosure is subject to professional secrecy, an idea developed by its own chief at a congressional hearing. In response to this statement, Yolanda Díaz’s parliamentary group announced that they would denounce the bank before the Administrative Court for not providing these data.
During his intervention in Congress, Hernández de Cos did not mention the possible merger of BBVA and Sabadell but emphasized that it was a good time to pay attention to the optimal level of concentration in the Spanish banking sector. Carlos Martín asked about this level of concentration but most of his intervention was about monetary policy and how banks were benefiting from it.
Martin questioned Hernandez de Cos about the transfer of €8 billion euros made by the Bank of Spain for depositing €250 billion euros of liquidity from banks in installing deposits, which represents 65% of the profits obtained by Spanish banks. Martín requested detailed information about this transfer. The official response from the Bank of Spain to Martin’s parliamentary question was that information disclosed by entities is subject to professional secrecy obligations.
After being rejected in providing information, Sumar announced that they would denounce the Bank of Spain before Administrative Court for not providing information on how much profit banks obtained from their deposits. Accessing transparent and accurate information is crucial for proper supervision and analysis of economic and financial policies.