I have no doubt that we are now much better equipped to deal with emerging financial strains then we were at the outset of the current financial crisis. Nevertheless, there are still major domestic and external challenges facing the future evolution of the Portuguese banking system. Domestically the main challenge to the banking system is profitability.
As you know, the banks’ profitability has been under great pressure. The RoA declined from 0.48% in December 2010 to –0.55% in June 2013. In the same period, the RoE declined from 6.7% to –7.19%. This is due to a variety of factors.