Banking stocks on European stock markets thus fell again on Friday after the recent upheavals in the banking sector which began with the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank. The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, called on Sunday to “remain vigilant” in the face of “uncertainty”.
It was a call for vigilance in these uncertain times that Kristalina Georgieva made, after the problems encountered by Western banks, battered and unstable for fear of precipitating the financial markets and the world economy into a crisis similar to that of 2008.
Uncertainty still remains “high” in the financial sector, launched the head of the IMF during a Forum on the development of China, organized by the Chinese government. “It is clear that the risks to financial stability have increased,” she said, reacting to the recent setbacks of Western banks, such as the Californian bank Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank in the United States, Credit Suisse.
The bankruptcy of the Californian bank SVB on March 10 panicked the banking sector in the United States, prompting the government to take the situation seriously.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden tempered the situation by saying that the “banks were doing pretty well” and that he saw nothing “about to explode” and that it would take “a little time to Let things calm down.”
In Europe, although expert opinions said there would be no impact on the banking sector, concerns prevailed over reason. Credit Suisse quickly capsized and was taken over in disaster by its compatriot UBS last Sunday, for a fraction of its stock market value.
The Swiss authorities have gone into action to control this takeover and the recent measures taken by central banks to improve access to liquidity have made it possible to avoid a disaster scenario, but the markets remain unstable. Thus, European stock markets fell on Friday.
“Policymakers have taken decisive action in response to risks to financial stability,” Georgieva stressed in his speech. “These measures have to some extent eased tensions in the markets, but uncertainty is high, underscoring the need to remain vigilant. »
But neither the reassuring statements of the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde, French President Emmanuel Macron or German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, really reassured the financial markets.