"It's not good for Spain." In this way, the CEO of BBVA, Onur Genç, referred to the implementation of a new tax for banks. In his opinion, the tax - which means 250 million euros for the bank this year according to his preliminary calculations - will reduce the credit available to clients, Genç declared that the measure "leads to less investment and less growth".
The bank earned 3,001 million euros in the first half, which is 59.3% more than in the same period last year, according to the accounts presented yesterday. The boost – explained the entity in a statement – is due to the dynamism of income, thanks to a growth in activity of 13%, better management of expenses in the midst of high inflation and lower provisions.
Genç added in a brief telematic press conference that the tax "does not come at the right time" since "there is a lot of uncertainty" about the future.
The banker believed that in this uncertain future scenario, "the banking sector" should be especially protected. The last argument he gave to oppose the tax is that “we are not seeing extraordinary profits” on which to tax. In his opinion, what was exceptional is not the current profits but the last few years with negative rates. "This tax is only going to lead us to a situation in which we will finance less, for example, solar panels," warned the banker.
In the second quarter, profit amounted to 1,675 million. The interest margin, which is the item that the Government wants to assess with its new tax, reached 8,551 million euros between January and June, which represents a year-on-year increase of 26.5%, driven by the strong increase in activity . Net commissions increased by 17.8%, to 2,650 million euros.
By markets, Mexico, which accounts for more than half of the result, achieved a profit of 1,821 million euros, with an increase of 48.3% compared to the first half of 2021, while in Spain, it amounted to 808 million, a 11.5% more.
Turkey, for its part, generated an attributable result of 62 million euros between January and June 2022, a figure that includes the impact of the application of hyperinflation accounting from January 1. Regarding the country's situation in the accounts of the financial group, Genç said that the figures provided by the country are "somewhat better" than those initially planned, although they already take into account that the results there "are going to be very limited" this year .
