It had already demonstrated its advantages, even before it was officially introduced, and I have no doubt that it will continue to demonstrate these advantages and reveal new ones, providing for better business conditions in Croatia, higher economic growth and the improved living standards of our citizens. Thank you! 2/2  BIS - Central bankers' speeches
Despite the significant reduction in recent years (branch numbers down by 51% and staff numbers down by more than 36% since the peak levels of 2008), Spain continues to have one of the highest numbers of branches per inhabitant among the main European countries. That said, the reduction in recent years has drawn us closer to the levels in other countries,10 and certain demographic factors, such as lower population density, explain, at least in part, this gap. Moreover, in efficiency ratio terms, the Spanish banking sector is better placed than its main European counterparts, although it is some way off from the most favourable levels observed in recent history (43.2% in 2009, compared with 49% in 2020). The second significant variable here is the cost of capital which, despite the improvements in bank solvency, continues to be very high. The initial high increase in this variable (from March 2020) and the subsequent decline back to pre-crisis levels (from 2020 H2) have been largely explained by changes in the overall equity risk premium. However, the greater perception of banking sector risk among investors also led to a lower correlation with the stock exchange general index. As the recovery progresses and economic activity returns to normal, the gap between ROE and the cost of capital can be expected to narrow, having widened significantly in 2020 on account of the divergent developments in the two variables.