- The final evaluation report highlights the good execution of the program and Spain's commitment to banking reform
- The Commission notes that European assistance has had positive effects for the consolidation of the economic recovery
- The financial sector has recovered its credit activity, while improving its efficiency and solvency
The European Commission has published the evaluation report of the Assistance Program for the Spanish Financial Sector, carried out between 2012-2014. The report highlights the success of the measures implemented and the strong commitment of the Spanish authorities in their execution. The objective of the report is to evaluate the program in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and coherence, in order to extract lessons for future programs of the European Union.
The Commission emphasizes that the objectives pursued have been achieved and other risks that would have had negative consequences for the banking system and the Spanish economy as a whole have been avoided. The indicators analyzed show a clear improvement in terms of solvency, profitability and financing costs of the financial system, while credit flows to the real economy have been recovered.
The evaluators also point out that it was wise to focus the program and its conditionality on the financial sector and avoid the inclusion of measures related to fiscal policy and structural reforms. The report also points out that the implementation of the measures contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the Spanish authorities was quick and effective, with most of the reforms being undertaken in 2012. This allowed us to restore confidence in the Spanish economy. and in your financial system, from the first moment of the program.
The document also highlights the commitment of the Government of Spain to meet fiscal objectives and the adoption of structural reforms in parallel with the financial assistance program, which has led to a virtuous circle of the economy, with job creation and economic growth. The reforms implemented allowed to recover the confidence of investors in Spain and the ability of the authorities to correct macroeconomic imbalances.
The Spanish authorities share, in general, the conclusions of the report and appreciate the recognition of the European Commission towards the commitment and effort of the Government in this program.
Spain requested the financial assistance program in June 2012, endowed with a credit line of up to 100,000 million euros in very advantageous conditions, with the objective of carrying out the sanitation and restructuring of the Spanish financial system. Of these funds, finally more than 40,000 million were required, of which more than 5,600 million have already been returned to the European Stability Mechanism (MEDE), about 15% of the total.