BBVA congratulates Sánchez for the "good March" of the economy with the takeover bid on Sabadell in the background

It is the first time that the president of the Government and the president of BBVA meet publicly after the announcement of the takeover bid for Sabadell

June 13. () –

The president of BBVA, Carlos Torres, has congratulated the Government for the “good progress” of the Spanish economy and has highlighted to the President of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, the “commitment” of his entity in “key issues” such as sustainability, in a context marked by the operation that BBVA has proposed to acquire 100% of Banco Sabadell and which consists of a hostile takeover bid and subsequent merger.

This is the first time that Sánchez and Torres meet publicly at an event after learning about the operation. The statements were made at a business meeting between Spain and Turkey, which was held this Thursday in Madrid, prior to the High Level Meeting between both countries. In this way, the event was also witnessed by the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where BBVA operates through its subsidiary Garanti.

The business meeting was also attended by the Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business, Carlos Body, who has already shown on several occasions the Government’s rejection of the operation that BBVA has proposed. In fact, last week he justified this position in the “enormous concentration” of the Spanish banking system and its repercussions on issues such as financial inclusion, territorial cohesion or the lack of competition in the remuneration of deposits.

However, Torres and Body will meet again in public next Monday, when both participate in the inauguration of the economics course organized by the Association of Economic Information Journalists (APIE) at the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) and sponsored by BBVA.

In today’s speech, Torres congratulated the Spanish Executive for the “good progress” of the economy and highlighted the “commitment” to “key issues” such as the ecological transition, renewable energies and inclusive growth in the face of climate change. .

Likewise, he gave a “very positive” assessment of the launch of the Spanish Productivity Council, since, in his opinion, “it will help lay the foundations for long-term growth increasingly supported by private investment.”

In his speech, the president of BBVA highlighted the need for structured public-private cooperation to successfully confront the current environment of geopolitical uncertainty and great challenges, such as climate change or the potential of advances in the technological field.

Regarding Turkey, the bank has highlighted the “great confidence” in the country’s long-term potential, highlighting “the entrepreneurial spirit of Turkish society, its demographics and its regional leadership, which gives it the potential to become a ‘ manufacturing hub for the European Union”.

Likewise, Torres has highlighted that the economic policies that the Turkish government is putting into practice in recent months “are having a positive result” and predicts economic growth of 3.5% in 2024.

To conclude, Torres insisted on highlighting that Spain and Turkey have “a long journey together” and expressed his gratitude for participating in the meeting as co-president of the Spanish-Turkish Business Committee, representing Spanish companies that, like BBVA, have activity in Turkey.

This business meeting also included interventions by the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi; and the president of the Economic Council of Foreign Relations of Turkey (Deik, for its acronym in Turkish), Nail Olpak; as well as the Secretary of State for Commerce, Amparo López Senovilla, and other representatives of public and private institutions.