(Finance) – The rise in interest rates is “welcome for the European banking sector, from the point of view of profitability we have seen that even in scenarios where there was a significant increase in rates, for 200 basis points, it would clearly be good for profitability “. She affirmed it Andrea Enria, president of ECB banking supervision during the Italian CEO Conference of Mediobanca, underlining that “the real question in the coming months concerns the macroeconomic prospects. And if you look at the base scenario in the ECB’s forecasts it remains positive”.
“The the overall picture of the banking sector continues to show resilience. Regarding the quality of the assets, what we are doing now as vigilantes – reported Enria – is to ask banks for appropriate risk controls.
“So far, large-scale mergers of cross-border banks in Europe are not on the table”he said again. And on this “I see some concerns” related to the fact that “the green and digital transformations would require significant economies of scale”, she added.
On the digital euro: The reasons behind the creation of a digital euro include the fact that “in payments, consumer habits are changing and in 10 years the digital payment forms will be differentAnd. Central banks cannot abdicate and let others do it, because it would be destabilizing “, said Enria for whom” there is also a question linked to the fact that whatever is decided at the ECB, there are already developments of other central banks that they are moving. So the alternative is not between digital currency yes and digital currency no, but between seeing the European system involved or not. And non-involvement would be worse for our banks and our financial system, because the provision of means of payment would be entrusted to third parties “, he continued.
From the perspective of the central banks, there would be the aspect of the management of retail operations and the digital euro “would be designed in such a way as to prevent destabilizing effects on the sector”, argued Enria. “Obviously it will be a change for the banks, what matters is that we don’t want these changes to be destructive”, he concluded.