Spain: may a minister become central bank chief?
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has chosen José Luis Escrivá, minister for digital transformation, to be the new governor of the Bank of Spain. The position comes with a seat on the European Central Bank's governing council and an important role in the supervision of the Spanish banking sector. The opposition is outraged and sees a conflict of interest. The national press is divided.
At the very least poor style
This step has nothing to do with the new political style that Sánchez preaches, criticises El País:
“Regardless of their profile and how they're appointed, central bank chiefs define policies. It's hard to justify moving someone from the Council of Ministers to a regulatory authority without a reasonable transition period. ... This will lead to contradictions between Minister Escrivá and bank governor Escrivá. ... Sánchez has appointed a member of his cabinet as governor of the central bank without consulting the opposition - an appointment policy that is not compatible with the ambitions for renewal.”
For Sánchez, it's the principle that counts
This is above all a muscle-flexing exercise, rages ABC:
“It's not about suitability for the job, it's about intention. It's not the person, it's the method. José Luis Escrivá has enough experience and knowledge to ensure that his appointment as governor of the Bank of Spain is technically not a crazy move. ... But Pedro Sánchez doesn't care anyway, because the message he wants to send has nothing to do with competence or merit. He simply wants to make it clear that the government will also control the financial supervisory authority. ... His priority was to make it clear that the prime minister can appoint whomever he wants.”
Let him do his job
eldiario.es explains what the new central bank head should push for:
“There is no conflict of interest when you go from being a minister to head of the Banco de España. The functions that the central bank's autonomy law assigns to its head ensure this. Moreover, ideologically speaking, Escrivá is a liberal and neo-classicist in the true sense of the word. ... What we must expect of him is that he takes care of the jungle in the financial sector, strengthens consumer protection and, unlike his predecessors, acts independently when it comes to monitoring and sanctioning financial institutions that defraud many of their customers.”