Various considerations underpinned this judgement, including: first, global economic activity was expected to remain robust and become more evenly balanced; second, the credit quality of banks’ key counterparties – households and firms – generally remained high; and third, euro area banks’ profitability was anticipated to strengthen further, their solvency ratios comfortably exceeded regulatory requirements and risk management methods had greatly improved.
This Seminar was also a way for Banco de Portugal to celebrate the twentieth anniversary both of the ECB and of Banco de Portugal’s participation in the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Legal Committee (known as LEGCO), which has played a crucial role in developing the EMU.