Post by messi1063 on Nov 25, 2023 23:19:14 GMT -5
Gonzalo Gortázar , CEO of CaixaBank , took stock of the situation of the Spanish and European economy during a colloquium held by the Association for the Progress of Management ( APD Zona Levante ). In his opinion, after the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the rise in inflation, “ the Spanish economy has shown resilience although the most recent data shows a certain slowdown. “We are beginning to feel the impact of a weaker external environment and rising rates, but we will gradually recover a higher growth rate in 2024. ”
At the colloquium, which was also attended by Jaume Masana , General Business Director of CaixaBank, and Olga García , Territorial Director of the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia. Gortázar explained, before more than 200 managers, that in the structural area the situation differs greatly from that of 2008, since both families, companies and banks are in a better financial situation.
Relative strength situation
“Although 2023 will be a year in which the situation has gone from strength to strength, we are in a situation of relative strength. Family debt is 52%, lower than in Europe and much lower than 15 years ago ,” he noted. For the CEO of CaixaBank, the two sectors that influenced the depth of past crises, finance and real estate, are also in a much more favorable situation. The bank has a position of strength to help continue growing, with “ample liquidity and strong solvency . ” Gortázar has stressed that the financial sector is “the circulatory system of the economy and if we want the economy to do well, we have to be happy that the financial sector is doing well . ”
In this sense, the director of CaixaBank has highlighted the differential fact that the entity contributes to generating a positive impact on society through the dividend distributed to “the “la Caixa” Foundation: “It is our Phone Number Data main shareholder and the first foundation of Europe and reverts into actions to people with an annual budget of about 550 million euros . ” “We want to do our activity in a differential way ”, he added.
The main problem, public debt
In his opinion, currently the main problem we face is public debt, with a debt at 110% of GDP. “It is necessary to return to budgetary orthodoxy, reduce the deficit to be able to recover room for action for the day when it is necessary . ” For Gortázar, “improving productivity is what can change the dynamics of the economy. The world is changing at very high speed and we need to constantly update ourselves. That requires a lot of planning effort. We have to grit our teeth, but we are going to get through it well . ”
At the level of large companies, Gortázar has indicated that the main challenges are sustainability, digitalization and talent. “Each and every one of us has to incorporate all aspects of the impact on society and the planet. We have a climate and environmental footprint and we create jobs. We have to incorporate this impact into our balance sheets and to do so we have to measure it . ” All companies must follow this path because they will be criteria that will mark decisions at all levels. In fact, “companies that do not do so will have difficulties accessing financing . ”
Role of managers and leadership
The CEO of CaixaBank closed his speech by reflecting on the role of managers and business leadership. For Gortázar, there are three key elements. “We are part of companies that manage people, sometimes the desire to achieve things and achieve results quickly is given more weight. It is forgotten that this mechanism is made up of people. “We have to remember that we are talking to people and take into account the human component in everything we do . ”
Another point to highlight is “self-confidence and results orientation, but doing things well, sometimes considering doing things differently, within the limits set by ethics. ” To conclude, Gortázar highlighted “the ability to excite teams and achieve objectives together, knowing where we are going and having participated in the decisions. "It takes communication and listening.
At the colloquium, which was also attended by Jaume Masana , General Business Director of CaixaBank, and Olga García , Territorial Director of the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia. Gortázar explained, before more than 200 managers, that in the structural area the situation differs greatly from that of 2008, since both families, companies and banks are in a better financial situation.
Relative strength situation
“Although 2023 will be a year in which the situation has gone from strength to strength, we are in a situation of relative strength. Family debt is 52%, lower than in Europe and much lower than 15 years ago ,” he noted. For the CEO of CaixaBank, the two sectors that influenced the depth of past crises, finance and real estate, are also in a much more favorable situation. The bank has a position of strength to help continue growing, with “ample liquidity and strong solvency . ” Gortázar has stressed that the financial sector is “the circulatory system of the economy and if we want the economy to do well, we have to be happy that the financial sector is doing well . ”
In this sense, the director of CaixaBank has highlighted the differential fact that the entity contributes to generating a positive impact on society through the dividend distributed to “the “la Caixa” Foundation: “It is our Phone Number Data main shareholder and the first foundation of Europe and reverts into actions to people with an annual budget of about 550 million euros . ” “We want to do our activity in a differential way ”, he added.
The main problem, public debt
In his opinion, currently the main problem we face is public debt, with a debt at 110% of GDP. “It is necessary to return to budgetary orthodoxy, reduce the deficit to be able to recover room for action for the day when it is necessary . ” For Gortázar, “improving productivity is what can change the dynamics of the economy. The world is changing at very high speed and we need to constantly update ourselves. That requires a lot of planning effort. We have to grit our teeth, but we are going to get through it well . ”
At the level of large companies, Gortázar has indicated that the main challenges are sustainability, digitalization and talent. “Each and every one of us has to incorporate all aspects of the impact on society and the planet. We have a climate and environmental footprint and we create jobs. We have to incorporate this impact into our balance sheets and to do so we have to measure it . ” All companies must follow this path because they will be criteria that will mark decisions at all levels. In fact, “companies that do not do so will have difficulties accessing financing . ”
Role of managers and leadership
The CEO of CaixaBank closed his speech by reflecting on the role of managers and business leadership. For Gortázar, there are three key elements. “We are part of companies that manage people, sometimes the desire to achieve things and achieve results quickly is given more weight. It is forgotten that this mechanism is made up of people. “We have to remember that we are talking to people and take into account the human component in everything we do . ”
Another point to highlight is “self-confidence and results orientation, but doing things well, sometimes considering doing things differently, within the limits set by ethics. ” To conclude, Gortázar highlighted “the ability to excite teams and achieve objectives together, knowing where we are going and having participated in the decisions. "It takes communication and listening.