The governor, a firm supporter of the need to design a fiscal consolidation plan that must be implemented now to bring public finances under control, predicts that interest rates will continue to rise significantly in the coming meetings. -The last meeting of the ECB resolved to submit to interest rates half a point more. Where is the ceiling to stop increasing them, or a hairpin? -Interest rates will slow down to levels that will ensure that inflation returns to the 2% target in the medium term. What is this level? The actual uncertainty is so high that precise orientation is not really possible. But, with the information we have at this time, in order to achieve this objective, we believe that it will be necessary to continue to significantly increase the advice of interest in the next meetings and that, once reached, we will tend to maintain that "terminal" level for a while. The most important message is that we have not reached the end yet. - Is there a threat of non-payment in the bank? -It is clear that the rise in interest rates is increasing the cost of financing for stores and companies, along with the slowdown in their income and the fall in real income due to inflation, is reducing their ability to pay. Well then, the magnitude of the impact will depend on the depth of the economic slowdown, the persistence of inflation and the amount needed to support monetary policy, among other factors. From the perspective of financial stability, the relevant message is that the stress tests that we regularly carry out point to the fact that the aggregate solvency of the banking sector will remain at adequate levels in the face of adverse scenarios, as well as with heterogeneity between entities. Let us not forget that this capacity for resistance is largely due to the implementation of regulatory reforms on a global scale and, in the Spanish case, to the restructuring of the last decade. -Wouldn't it be logical for banks to remunerate deposits again? – We are observing that the remuneration of deposits has barely increased and that the pass-through of the increases in money market rates to the costs of household and corporate debt is being slower than in previous episodes of increases. The first would be linked to the fact that we initially started from negative rates that, to a large extent, had not been transferred to deposits, as well as the ample liquidity and high ratios of deposits to credit in the banking system. But we do expect progressively greater translations in both credit costs and deposits. Meanwhile, savers are already using alternative instruments to improve the profitability of their savings. -From monetary policy to taxation. We now have three new taxes. To the great fortunes, to the bank, and to the energetic ones, what impact do they have for Spain? -We do not yet have an evaluation of its impact. In all cases, what I would like to underline about the tax system is that I believe there is a broad consensus on the need for a comprehensive review of it to improve its collection capacity and its efficiency. Also accompanied by a comprehensive review of public spending. These review the fundamental part of the fiscal consolidation process to which I referred earlier. Comparison with the rest of the neighboring countries can serve as a guide. And this comparison shows that Spain collects on average less than other countries. When we analyze why we collect less, it is not so much because of lower marginal rates but rather because of the effect of deductions, bonuses, etc., which end up causing the effective average rates to be lower. And, in terms of composition, Spain collects less, above, in consumption tax and environmental tax. This diagnosis can be a good starting point for reform. Incorporating, of course, the redistributive criteria that are considered adequate. And, finally, it is very important to bear in mind that, given the high degree of international integration of our economy, the collection capacity of some tax figures is highly conditioned by the degree of fiscal coordination on an international scale. That is why the international tax agreements reached in the OECD/G-20 and in the EU in the case of corporate taxation and the tax on digital activities are so important.
