There were no surprises or unexpected changes of direction. The Minister of Economy, Trade and Business, Carlos Cuerpo, appeared yesterday in the Congress of Deputies to announce what was already known: that José Luis Escrivá will be the new governor of the Bank of Spain for the next six years, replacing Pablo Hernández de Cos, with the frontal opposition of the Popular Party. His general secretary, Cuca Gamarra, made it clear again: “We are not going to whitewash the colonisation of the institution by Pedro Sánchez with the appointment of Escrivá because he will continue to be a minister from the organisation.”
Sánchez has broken with the unwritten tradition that establishes that the Government elects the governor and the main opposition party decides the name of the deputy governor. The negotiations held between both parties since before the summer to try to agree on the names did not bear fruit due to Escrivá’s imposition, which led to the breakdown of the table and the rejection of the PP.
The body justified the Government’s decision during its appearance by saying that the Law on the Autonomy of the Bank of Spain establishes in its article 24.1 that the governor will be appointed by the King at the proposal of the President of the Government, from among those who are Spanish and have recognised competence in monetary or banking matters, “requirements that Escrivá meets as an ideal candidate” thanks to his “recognised, accredited technical qualification” and his “experience and knowledge of the European institutions”, although he warned that the new governor “will have to face the new challenges that are coming, which will not be easy at all”.
The Minister of Economy also stressed that in addition to his “extensive experience” in Spain, Escrivá has a “proven” track record in the most important financial institutions and in numerous public and private organisations, highlighting his “deep knowledge” of the Bank of Spain itself, which “is the institution to which he belongs as a public employee”. The body has argued that the current legislation supports the appointment of Escrivá because, “if we look at the autonomy regulations of the Bank of Spain, what it says is that it explicitly requires that the candidate for governor has recognised competence in monetary or banking matters”, and Escrivá “complies with all of this”.
The PP does not see it this way, maintaining its rejection of the appointment and describing as “unheard of” that Escrivá is going to supervise his own management as a minister as governor: “It is a real perversion.” This was stated by the PP spokesman, Borja Sémper, who insisted that “Mr. Escrivá is going to be governor of the Bank of Spain and is going to supervise the management of Mr. Escrivá himself, when he was a minister.”
The newspaper archives highlight some clashes between Escrivá and the former governor regarding studies published by the organisation against the pension reform promoted by the then Minister of Social Security, considering that it did not guarantee the sustainability of the public system, in addition to proposing measures that, in some cases, were contrary to his proposals.
In May 2022, the minister went so far as to say that the supervisor’s analyses lacked “sophistication” and did not provide “any new elements that would make me change my mind about the sustainability of pensions.” Now, under his mandate, the opposition doubts the independence of the body in its analysis of the reform of the system promoted by Escrivá himself or its impartiality regarding other government measures.
This week, Sánchez has accelerated the appointment of Escrivá to the bank’s chair, since the appointment of the new governor had to be made before September 11, when the mandate of the current deputy governor, Margarita Delgado, ends. She has assumed the highest functions in the institution on an interim basis, after the six-year mandate of Pablo Hernández de Cos expired in June. In this way, Escrivá will be able to go to Frankfurt next week for the next monetary policy meeting of the ECB, which will be held on September 12.
The last chapter is still to be closed: who will replace Delgado as deputy governor. Her term expires next Wednesday. For the moment, the PP has already confirmed that it will not propose any name for the post as the unwritten rules for the appointment of both positions have not been complied with. Among the names that are being mentioned to replace her is that of the current vice president of the CNMV, Monserrat Martínez Parera.