Pablo Hernández de Cos: The Spanish economy - transformation and challenges

Speech by Mr Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of the Bank of Spain, at the Spain Investors Day, Madrid, 15 January 2019.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Let me thank the Governing Board of Spain Investors Day and its chairman, Benito Berceruelo, for their kind invitation to speak here today, together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the gala dinner of this 9th edition of Spain Investors Day. I am convinced that, as on previous occasions, the meeting will be a success.

I will be focusing on the situation of the Spanish economy and on its banking sector. Along with a brief description of the current conjunctural setting, marked by a more complex and uncertain international economic environment, I would like to summarise some of the improvements observed in the Spanish economy in recent years, in the wake of the latest and acute crisis we experienced. I shall, moreover set out various challenges and vulnerabilities which, in my opinion, need to be properly and resolutely addressed. The aim thereby would be, first, to shore up the potential growth of our economy in the long term and, further, to adapt our financial system to the new regulatory demands and to the new competitive and technological setting.