CaixaBank’s president, José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, utilized the organization’s shareholders meeting held today in Valencia to project confidence about the sector. He urged Spanish banks to stand firm amid financial turbulence that has unsettled institutions both in the United States and Europe, pointing to situations like Silicon Valley Bank in the US and Credit Suisse in Europe as reminders of market stress.
He noted that, while fluctuations persist and vigilance remains essential, Spanish banks are better prepared this time around. In his view, the crisis dynamics seen previously did not repeat because Spanish banks benefit from robust liquidity and strong capital positions that empower them to weather shocks. He cited that the group serves a broad spectrum of customers, from large corporations to families, with liquidity and solvency ratios that are exceptionally solid, including figures around 194 percent and 12.8 percent for CaixaBank in all relevant measures.
Credit Suisse
On the topic of Credit Suisse, which was ultimately absorbed by UBS, Goirigolzarri argued that the market reacted with surprise to how shareholders were treated compared with those holding debt, particularly AT1 instruments. He emphasized that the responses observed in Europe’s audit community were timely and that such outcomes do not fit Turkey’s regulatory framework or the eurozone’s approach. The current turbulence has prompted calls to accelerate European banking integration and push forward with a continental deposit guarantee scheme to prevent spillovers between bank risk and country risk.
The CaixaBank president argued that the instability underscores the need to complete the European banking union and to advance the creation of a robust deposit guarantee fund across Europe as a safeguard against feedback loops between bank vulnerabilities and sovereign risk.
Goirigolzarri also highlighted that the main vulnerabilities for the Spanish economy, aside from productivity, stem from the public accounts where debt-to-GDP remains high and the structural deficit is around four percent. He argued that an explicit plan is required to address these imbalances, especially as interest rates normalize and are unlikely to return to the zero percent levels seen in recent years, a period during which fiscal discipline will be restored within the European Union.
Inflation
Despite these concerns, Goirigolzarri remained optimistic about Spain’s growth trajectory for the year, forecasting a gross domestic product increase of about 1.3 percent. He projected inflation to end the year around 4.2 percent, with core inflation staying above these levels. His projection also anticipated Euribor, the principal mortgage reference rate, hovering near 3.5 percent in the second and third quarters of the year.
Dividend
The CaixaBank chief emphasized that shareholders can expect solid returns in 2022, with distributable earnings estimated at 1.73 billion euros. From the start of 2022 through the most recent period, the bank’s share price has risen by roughly 51 percent. He also touched on the bank tax and pledged that no municipality in which the bank operates would be neglected, including 470 municipalities where CaixaBank is the sole bank. The La Caixa Foundation is set to receive around 550 million euros to support its social initiatives.