Deploying our strategic vision over the long term
We are building on the solid results achieved by BNP Paribas in 2022 to further and amplify our momentum
Before reviewing macroeconomic trends, it is important for me to mention the human tragedies that cast shadows in 2022 and the beginning of 2023.
The war in Ukraine has lasted for more than a year now and its outcome seems distant and uncertain. At BNP Paribas, we are particularly attentive to the changes and repercussions of this conflict as they directly affect the 5,000 employees of our subsidiary UKRSIBBANK, whose exceptional courage and resilience allow us to maintain banking services that are essential to the Ukrainian economy. My sympathy also extends to our colleagues and to people in Turkey and Syria who were struck on 6 February by an earthquake which was described by the World Health Organization as, “the worst natural disaster in a century” and whose death toll was exacerbated by several deadly floods that followed. The Group naturally mobilised to support the affected populations by immediately activating the BNP Paribas Foundation Emergency & Development Fund.
Several shocks converged
Despite a series of unprecedented events since 2020, a further convergence of shocks in 2022 has had substantial consequences. First, we experienced an energy crisis of significant magnitude which led to increased prices throughout Europe, a surge in food prices throughout the world and a widespread logistics shock linked to multiple disruptions in production and supply chains.
In all, the situation contributed to creating conditions for an historic rise in inflation combined with an increase in interest rates as had not been experienced in many years. To contain this high inflation, the United States Federal Reserve System (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) tightened their monetary policies and carried out successive hikes in their key interest rates which wiped out a long decade of low rates in just a few weeks.