. sometimes, situations like this are used somewhat irresponsibly to stir up euroscepticism. i ’ m not going to discuss specific topics, i will just give you the data. currently, the ecb is clearly the principal calming influence in the financial markets, with the €750 billion of bond purchases that we recently approved, plus the €120 billion we approved shortly before that, plus the €240 billion we were already doing. this is ensuring that the cost of public debt, not just for spain but also for other countries, does not increase dramatically and that the issue of bond spreads does not rear its head again. take a country with a debt level of 98 % [ of gdp ], like spain ( not the highest in europe, some other countries ’ debt levels are even higher ). how many years will it take to pay off this debt increase? budgets will deteriorate significantly, mainly because tax revenues will collapse. it remains to be seen who will be paying corporation tax, or vat, or income tax, or social security contributions. but we all hope that this situation, this catastrophe, will be temporary. we ’ re talking about two or three months. there will be an increase in debt. but what ’ s important is that, after this period is over, we get back on our feet and the spanish economy begins generating activity and employment again, as it was before. this is very much the hope. i wanted to ask you whether some of the southern european countries, and spain in particular, could once again be looking at a rescue scenario in the medium term. no. this is completely different from what happened in 2008, 2009 and 2010. this is a shock that is affecting everyone – the plans enacted in 2009 and 2010 cannot be applied to the current situation. almost all the letters of the alphabet have been used to describe the type of recovery we might see : v - shaped, l - shaped, u - shaped … what will it be? and what is your opinion on essential industries being paralysed? the accusation levelled at us by northern european countries is that spain has squandered the opportunity to reduce its deficit during a growth period, and now we ’ re paying the price. spain reduced its deficit. in 2011 we had a government deficit of 9. 6 % and we reduced it to 2. 5 %. we have a high level of debt, close to 100 % [ of gdp ]. spain has

luis de guindos : interview with cadena cope interview with mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, and cadena cope, conducted by mr carlos herrera on 30 march 2020. * * * are you teleworking? are you in lockdown? yes, we ’ re in lockdown and have been teleworking for almost a month now. i ’ d like to go back in time. you were in a very difficult place at an extremely difficult time, i. e. at the helm of the spanish economy when the crisis that was triggered between 2007 and 2008 reached its peak and mario draghi uttered the magic words “ … whatever it takes … ”, which significantly calmed the markets. can today ’ s crisis, which is different in nature but devastating nonetheless, also be solved by either you or your president saying “ we will do whatever is necessary ”, and that will solve everything? we are already doing whatever is necessary. we have given banks as much liquidity as they need and the ecb is going to buy more than a trillion euros ’ worth of euro area bonds. spain will benefit to the tune of around €120 billion. this is the spanish economy ’ s main line of defence from a financial perspective at the moment. is this how much spanish banks, with the government ’ s approval, will be able to grant in terms of loans to whoever asks for them? no, these are direct purchases made by the european central bank. purchases of debt, of bonds? exactly. does this mean money for the government? yes, ultimately. the purchases are made on the secondary market, but will also have an impact on the primary market. the ecb is taking steps to help avoid certain situations ; do you remember what happened with the spread? yes, it reached 650 points in spain. the aim is to ensure spreads don ’ t widen dramatically and to keep the borrowing costs of governments under control to avoid an increase in financial stress at this extremely challenging time. are you now sure we will be in recession at the end of this quarter? yes. all of the scenarios being looked at, by the european commission, the oecd, etc. indicate that a recession will take hold. the main question is how long the lockdown period will last. if it lasts a long time, each month will see a fall of approximately two percentage points in gdp, according to the oecd calculations. if it lasts for