The president of BBVA, Carlos Torres, has avoided commenting on BBVA’s involvement in the so-called ‘Villarejo case’. In the press conference, after the presentation of results corresponding to the 2022 financial year, Torres has ruled that he “does not make any additional comments on the case” after the entity was left as the only Ibex accused. It should not be forgotten that this week, the National Court has given the definitive shelving to the pieces that succeeded Fainé, Brufau, Caixabank and Repsol.
During his speech, Torres referred to the words of Yolanda Díaz, second vice president of the Government of Pedro Sánchez, who has asked to freeze mortgages after BBVA presented a record profit. In this sense, Torres has defended the Spanish business fabric and private companies. “Private business allocates resources and is essential for the economy to function,” she asserted. The manager, in this sense, has registered that in Spain the entity does not reach the cost of capital and that the appreciation of credit also comes from a normalization of monetary policy.
Torres also referred to the fact that “the growth we have had outside of Spain weighs heavily on our results”, while recalling that the bank’s growth in Spain has been very low since 2010. Finally, he recalled, in his defense by private companies, the role of “entrepreneurial initiative both when it comes to investing and innovating” and has given decarbonization in the economy as an example, one of BBVA’s strategic lines.
