Santiago Niño Becerra warns about the information we receive about the banking crisis: “It is biased so that we do not worry”
“Not knowing what will happen to my savings generates uncertainty for me,” laments the economist, who points out that the data offered by the stock market “does not indicate reality”
MadridThe banking sector has been in chaos for two weeks. First it was the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank in the United States, then the collapse of Signature Bank and later the collapse of Credit Suisse, which ended with its sale to UBS.
The economist Santiago Niño Becerra believes that the information that is reaching the public “is little and is biased so that we do not worry.” “It generates uncertainty for me not knowing what will happen to my savings,” he laments. The decision of the largest central banks in the world to adopt joint supervision and defense work “worries” the economist. “If some banks may be wrong, you have to ask the central bank for an explanation,” he explains.
“For years the stock market has not indicated reality” This stock market upheaval that the banks are suffering has also left aftershocks in the energy sector, specifically in gas and oil. Both fuels have lost nearly a fifth of their value since the problems at Silicon Valley Bank began.
The economist believes that all cases are different. Credit Suisse “had been taking high risks for years.” Niño Becerra explains that, since interest rates have risen, he has had to be absorbed to survive. “What is happening in the United States is that people are changing small banks for larger banks,” says the economist. “If Silicon Valley had closed, there would be panic,” he has indicated. Santiago Niño has explained that there are banks that place limitations on the money that can be moved in their transfers and on the time in which it can be done.
“There is a concentration of the banking sector,” warns the economist. He explains that this concentration is positive because the problems can be solved more easily and, in fact, they are disappearing. Niño indicates that in Europe, if a small bank, like Silicon Valley Bank, goes bankrupt, panic sets in. It is a very different mentality from the one in the United States.
Carles Francino has asked the economist about the stock market numbers, which last Wednesday marked the best session in the last six months. “For years the stock market has not indicated reality,” said Niño Becerra. For the economist, with Spain’s level of inflation and poverty rate, “it is not logical. The stock markets are expensive,” he stressed.
Tax fraud in Spain Together with Santiago Niño Becerra, he has visited La Ventana Alejandra de la Fuente, author of the book ‘La trabajadora infiltrada’. To write it, she has tracked for weeks different offers in different precarious sectors such as caregivers, delivery men, telemarketers, waiters…
Niño Becerra explains that these precarious jobs are typical of a country that has “lax” operating legislation on the subject. Also, because they are jobs that generate little added value. Likewise, he has emphasized the lack of Treasury inspectors in Spain who prosecute fraud and tax avoidance. The economist recalled that the level of tax fraud in Spain is between 7% and 9% of the country’s GDP. In states like Germany, these levels move in a range of between 3% and 3.5%.
