clear of a recession if mistakes are avoided, because it is much better prepared than in the past. it is more competitive, its banking sector is healthier and levels of private debt are lower. and government debt of close to 100 % of gdp did we waste the opportunity to bring it down more quickly in the good years? considerable efforts have been made. spain ’ s deficit had reached 11 % of gdp, but this year it will be around 2 %. it ’ s always the case that more could have been done, but equally less could have been done. to what extent is the current political deadlock weighing on the economy? i won ’ t comment on countries ’ internal political issues. all i can say is that i was an acting minister for almost a year, and it ’ s not a nice situation to be in. a cyclical slowdown is coming, but certainly not a crisis like we saw in 2008. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

luis de guindos : interview with el pais interview with mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, and el pais, conducted by mr luis doncel on 11 october 2019, and published on 26 october 2019. * * * central bankers have become increasingly prominent figures. would it be preferable for them to go back to being rather low key? monetary policy has been overly prominent because other policy areas have not taken action. that ’ s not good. mario draghi ’ s term as ecb president is about to end. how will he be remembered? his mandate was marked by the debt crisis, three country bailouts, the extreme situations in spain and italy, and the real prospect of greece being forced to leave the euro area. with one sentence he made it patently clear that he would preserve the single currency, thus marking the beginning of the recovery from 2013 onwards. the second standout moment is large - scale asset purchases. despite the challenges of ecb decision - making, he built a consensus for implementing a policy that at the time was strictly necessary. in so doing, he modernised the ecb ’ s toolkit, bringing the institution into line with the federal reserve and the bank of england. his latest measures have been heavily criticised. draghi himself has acknowledged that the side effects are increasing. isn ’ t it a contradiction to say that the ecb has room to act while, at the same time, warning of the adverse effects of its policies? you have to find the right balance. we try to take action and do our part, but the side effects are becoming increasingly clear over time. central bankers are not almighty. we cannot fix problems such as trade wars or brexit. fiscal policy, structural reforms and the banking union have their part to play. if they don ’ t, the side effects will be larger. and that ’ s what we want to avoid. are the fiscal plans announced by governments, for example in germany and the netherlands, sufficient? the patchwork of fiscal policies – national policies and the stability and growth pact – is not sufficient to deal with a severe downturn. the existing framework offers very little scope for complementing monetary policy. that is why i am convinced of the need for a centralised and independent fiscal instrument. it would also provide support to national fiscal policies. the ecb has not met its inflation objective since 2013. has it failed to fulfil its price stability mandate