Botín (Santander) sees a global recession as possible, but without a significant impact on employment

Jan. 17 () –

The president of Banco Santander, Ana Botín, has not ruled out the possibility of a global recession, but without this having a significant impact on employment, which is at historically high levels in some of the main geographies in which it operates. operates your entity as UK, Spain or Portugal.

This was highlighted during his speech at a panel organized by The Wall Street Journal at the Davos Forum, which is taking place this week.

The president of Santander has indicated that she observes a capacity for resilience among consumers in the markets in which the bank operates, with the exception of “the base of the pyramid”, who are those who are affected by high inflation.

Thus, without rejecting a possible recession, Botín estimates that world growth will be below 3% this year, with growth of between 4.5% and 1% for the markets in which Santander operates.

He has also ruled out that a situation will occur in the real estate market like the one that happened in the 2007-2008 crisis, since net wealth is at “much higher” levels than 15 years ago, although he has acknowledged that adjustments may occur at a time when central banks are raising interest rates to tame the “cancer” of inflation.

At this point, Botín has stressed the importance of stopping the rise in prices for “the whole of society, especially for the most vulnerable”. He has considered that the normalization of interest rates is a “big change” for the financial sector, especially the European one, and that it will be felt in the income statement of the entities.

Regarding the temporary tax on banks that has been approved in Spain, Botín has defended that banks “pay a lot of taxes”, with an effective tax rate of more than 30%. “If governments need to increase taxes, we will pay them. But why should banks pay more than other companies?”, the president of the entity has transferred.

In addition, he stressed that taxes on the sector have a “huge negative multiplier effect” on the economy and employment. “If we pay an extra $2 billion in taxes, that’s $10, $15, $20 billion less in loans,” she said.

“What we defend is that if the Government needs to increase taxes, that it be done among all sectors,” he added in this regard.