00:00Minister, thank you so much for joining us.
00:02First of all, Christine Lagarde will be leaving this job next February,
00:06almost nine months before the scheduled date.
00:09Is that a smart decision in a context of geopolitical complexities and tariffs?
00:14Is that a good decision?
00:16Well, first of all, let me thank President Lagarde for all the work that she's put over the years.
00:21And we have to be clear that she managed to really steer the course of the ECB
00:27through very difficult times with the pandemic, two big energy crises that have had an impact on prices
00:32and also somehow keeping a forward-looking steering, thinking of important projects
00:38such as the digital euro, for example, amongst others.
00:41And all the while, steady also and sound financial system in the eurozone.
00:46So somehow I think the credibility of the ECB is one of the key assets that she was able to
00:52maintain.
00:52Now it's time to think about her successor.
00:55And this is also why we're here today.
00:57I will be presenting the candidacy of Pablo Hernández de Costa to succeed, Christine.
01:02And let's hope that we can have success.
01:04And we'll talk about your candidate in a minute.
01:06But it seems to me she's leaving now because of the French election and Marine Le Pen.
01:10There's a real concern about what a Le Pen presidency will look like.
01:15Is it fair if that was a motivation to leave early?
01:18It's for the better good, would you say?
01:19Well, I think at this point what is important for the ECB is that we are able to manage the
01:25succession in a steady way and as fast as we can.
01:28So the leaders have to take a decision on who will be succeeding President Lagarde.
01:33So let's hope that we can manage this decision process as fast as we can to give also this signal
01:39of stability at the head of the ECB,
01:41which is I think what markets are expecting as well.
01:43You put it forward, a candidate who's the former Spanish central banker, he was also an economist, also working now
01:49internationally.
01:50What makes you think Spain can get a job it has never had?
01:54I think it's the right window of opportunity for Spain, not only because the way that we've been leading some
01:59of the important discussions at the European and the EU level,
02:02also looking at the performance of the Spanish economy, but mainly because I think we have the right candidate.
02:07Pablo not only has been in the central bank world for almost 30 years, he's been leading, as you said,
02:14the Spanish central bank,
02:15but also the BIS as a steady hand, a strong background in economics, and also, of course, a man who
02:22is able to gather consensus,
02:24which is very important at the head of an institution like the ECB.
02:27Some would argue the problem with the Spanish is that they are pro-debt, more joint debt,
02:32and perhaps not as fiscally conservative as others would like to see around the governing council.
02:37Is that going to be a problem?
02:39The Spanish are very fiscally responsible.
02:41You just have to look at what has happened over the past few years with the Spanish fundamentals
02:44and the reduction in our debt-to-GDP ratio by more than 22 percentage points,
02:50strong confidence from the markets, from investors in the Spanish economy.
02:54That's what we are putting forward as well.
02:56You're putting forward a candidacy in the midst of an election campaign.
02:59You may not be in government in just a few months.
03:01Is that not going to penalize this process?
03:03Well, I think and I hope that what we are presenting is a Spanish candidate, not a governmental candidate.
03:09It's a candidate that has consensus also throughout two different parties in Spain.
03:13But you have to lobby for it, too, and the prime minister is not going to show up at a
03:16European council this week either.
03:19How are you pushing for your guy?
03:20Well, we've been lobbying for the past few months already very heavily,
03:25both at the prime minister level and also myself,
03:28trying to also push and make everyone understand that this is the right man at this point to lead the
03:34ECB.
03:35He's the right person.
03:36So let's see.
03:37Let's hope that the rest of the colleagues will also see it this way.
03:40And somehow it's for the leaders also to come to an agreement and to decide.
03:45And lastly, the election is now well underway.
03:48The campaign is well underway.
03:49You have an economy that outperforms your peers.
03:52And yet it seems you're going to be voted out of office.
03:55There's two weeks left.
03:57Is there anything you can do?
03:58Well, you have to look at the latest polls where you see that actually somehow there is a good trend
04:04in terms of not only the left, but especially the Socialist Party recovering part of the gap that we had
04:12in over the course of the past few months.
04:15So somehow this is not this is looking much better.
04:18And I'm very optimistic around the fact that we can, as in 2023, somehow also recover that gap and breach
04:26it enough
04:26so that we can also renew the progressist governments going ahead.
04:30Well, somehow meant a bizarre coalition.
04:32And it also meant you could not approve a budget.
04:34But you're saying you see dynamics that could mean you can still edge it.
04:38You honestly believe that?
04:39There's a very positive dynamics that I've been seeing on the streets for the past few months
04:44and which is now showing in the polls already.
04:47So let's hope that this becomes also a reality after the elections.
