Mario Centeno says Banco de Portugal is comfortable after the scandal it found itself in

Governor Mário Centeno said this Wednesday that the Bank of Portugal is comfortable with the institutions working and refused to answer further questions about the dispute that arose after a conversation with the prime minister.

“There is a statement from the board of directors [do Banco de Portugal] which sets out everything you need to know about the Ethics Committee’s findings. [do Banco de Portugal]. As long as there are functioning institutions, Banco de Portugal feels very comfortable,” Centeno said when asked about the Ethics Committee’s assessment of his conduct in the dispute over his appointment as prime minister.

Centeno subsequently refused to answer further questions about the “invitation” to lead the PS government, stressing that this Wednesday’s press conference will be dedicated to the Financial Stability Report.

“We are presenting a financial stability report, all the questions you ask me have been answered, there will be no further comment here this morning on this issue,” Centeno added.

The past week has been marked by controversy over the name of Mario Centeno (former Minister of Finance of the PS government), proposed by the current Prime Minister to replace him in this post (after Antonio Costa resigned due to an investigation in the courts), leading to criticism by the opposition parties, as they believed that Centeno’s independence as governor was at stake, as well as the dispute between Mario Centeno and the President of the Republic.

Speaking to the Financial Times on Sunday, November 12, the Bank of Portugal governor said he had received “an invitation from the President and Prime Minister to think and consider leading the government” and that he was “very far away to make a decision.”

In response, in the early hours of Sunday to Monday, the President of the Republic published a note in which he denied that he had invited anyone to head the government, including the Governor of the Bank of Portugal, Mario Centeno, or authorized any contacts to do so. made.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s statement prompted Centeno to correct his statement: “It is obvious that the President of the Republic did not invite me to lead the government” as he decided to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic, Mario Centeno said in a statement.

Mario Centeno’s conduct led to an extraordinary meeting of the Bank of Portugal’s Ethics Committee for assessment, which found that the manager had fulfilled his general duty of conduct and “acted with the necessary qualifications.” However, he added that “at an objective level, subsequent political and media developments could damage the image of the Bank,” given that “the protection of the institution is even more relevant in a period such as the current one.”

In this sense, the Presiding Committee recommended that “the Governor, the administration and the Bank as a whole remain committed to protecting the image and reputation of Banco de Portugal.”

The Board of Directors of Banco de Portugal, headed by the Governor, considered that “the conditions for the independence of Banco de Portugal and its bodies in the exercise of their powers have always been respected.”

In the European Union, MEPs from the PPE (the European political family of which the SDP is part) sent questions to European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on the matter, asking what they considered a “serious” breach” of the code of conduct for bank managers.