pablo hernandez de cos : central banks at the frontline of the covid - 19 crisis - weathering the storm, spurring the recovery welcome address and introductory remarks by mr pablo hernandez de cos, governor of the bank of spain and chair of the basel committee on banking supervision, at session 1 of the vi conference of mediterranean central banks, jointly organised by the central bank of tunisia, the organisation for economic co - operation and development ( oecd ), the european institute of the mediterranean ( iemed ) and the bank of spain, 28 june 2021. * * * it is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to this conference on central banks at the frontline of the covid - 19 crisis : weathering the storm, spurring the recovery, jointly organised by the central bank of tunisia, the organisation for economic co - operation and development ( oecd ), the european institute of the mediterranean ( iemed ) and the banco de espana. let me start by thanking our colleagues from the central bank of tunisia, the oecd and the iemed and, in particular, governor el abassi, ambassador florensa and luiz de mello for their cooperation in organising this conference. we could not have asked for better partners to help set up this event. under the resolute impulse of the iemed, this conference is becoming a mainstay among the fora for dialogue and cooperation in economic and financial relationships in the euro - mediterranean region. this is the sixth edition of this conference, which brings together central bankers from both shores of the mediterranean and representatives from international organisations, industry and academia. the first and third editions were in barcelona, in 2014 and 2017, the second in rabat in 2015, the fourth in tunisia in 2018 and the fifth in madrid in 2019. on this occasion, we have switched to a fully virtual conference, although we hope that in the next edition we can return to a face - to - face format, which helps strengthen the links among us. i firmly believe that fora like these are instrumental in enhancing regional cooperation and dialogue and in contributing to the design of economic policies that can have a tangible impact on the lives of our citizens. furthermore, regional cooperation might be seen as complementing as well as supporting the strengthening of multilateralism. at the current juncture, where we are still suffering the consequences of the deepest economic crisis since the second world war, the global recovery needs to be based, more

of the potential customer before granting financing. lastly, official authorities, and supervisors in particular, should promote this responsibility and monitor compliance as a key element in ensuring the stability of the financial system. and nor should they rule out the possibility of taking action if deemed necessary. here i would like to remind you that the banco de espana has opened a public consultation process on the amendment of circular 2 / 2016 on supervision and solvency this very week. the aim is to develop certain aspects of the macroprudential toolkit that legislation has made 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches available to the banco de espana. pursuant to this legislation, the banco de espana may set limits and conditions on lending standards and other financial institution transactions, along with sectoral concentration limits. the new circular defines the procedures for activating, deactivating and changing these measures, including the variables and parameters that the banco de espana may take into consideration to adopt a decision, the sectors that may be affected and the contractual terms or ratios that the measures may apply to. i would like to conclude by thanking the general council of economists for this initiative geared to young people, a group that the banco de espana considers a strategic priority in the context of the financial education plan. it is a further example of how the financial education plan partners, in this case the general council of economists, play an essential role in meeting the plan ’ s objectives. we have continued to move resolutely in this direction : through partnership agreements such as those recently signed with the ministry of education and vocational training and the ministry of consumer affairs ; and by pressing ahead with the work avenues opened with the ministry of economic affairs and digital transformation. once again, i would like to congratulate the winners, finalists and participants in this competition and, naturally, the organisers. i encourage them to sustain their efforts to boost the expansion of financial education. thank you very much. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches