Christian Noyer: There will be no break-up of the euro area – interview in Sud Ouest Interview with Mr Christian Noyer, Governor of the Bank of France and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, in Sud Ouest, Bordeaux, conducted by Mr Bernard Broustet on 17 January 2011. *  *  *  Sud Ouest: How is our economy faring? Christian Noyer: The economy is picking up. The third quarter of 2010 was slightly disappointing, but the fourth was better, with estimated growth of 0.6%. This trend is expected to continue in early 2011, even though a number of factors call for caution: the automobile sector could slow down due to the phasing out of the scrappage scheme, and the fiscal retrenchment measures implemented in some European countries may weigh on demand. But, all in all, growth is there. Sud Ouest: Will household consumption, which is the main driver of growth in France, be impacted by higher inflation? Christian Noyer: The surge in inflation that we are now observing at the start of year can be ascribed to higher energy and commodity prices. Current price levels appear particularly high when compared to the exceptionally low levels seen at end-2009. This difference will no doubt become less marked in the coming months. Given the unemployment rate and the still low capacity utilisation rate, I think that it is unlikely that the rise in commodity prices could result in second round effects in our economy.
18.10.2018  Welcome Address Conference “The New Bank Provisioning Standards: Implementation Challenges and Financial Stability Implications”/ Banco de España, FSI and CEMFI Pablo Hernández de Cos Governor of the Banco de España  Good morning to everyone. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the conference: “The new bank provisioning standards: implementation challenges and financial stability implications”, hosted by the Banco de España and co-organised with the BIS Financial Stability Institute and CEMFI. Let me first thank these two institutions for their participation and active involvement in the conference. The invaluable work and expertise of the FSI and the ever-necessary academic rigour provided by CEMFI combine perfectly with the Banco de España’s long-dated experience in banking supervision and create the sufficient conditions for this event to be a fruitful one. These three elements should be the ideal ingredients to ensure a promising and, hopefully, successful conference. Furthermore, the presence of leading international figures from academia, the banking industry and supervisory, accounting and auditing organisations as chairs and panelists, are an effective guarantee that a lively and enlightening debate over the next two days will arise and retain the interest of the audience and ultimately meet the organisers’ original aspirations for the conference. As a starting point, we should recall that credit risk is, by far, the most important type of risk universal banks face, as their customary activity is based on granting loans.