Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Gerard Cassidy: Very good. And then just lastly, the way the balance sheet is positioned today, when we’re on this call a year from now, let’s say, next July, what kind of interest rate environment would be ideal for a Popular over the next 12 months, both long and short end of the curve?

Jorge Garcia: I guess I can answer that. You basically, if you have like a reduction in short-term rates, that’s going to reduce the – what we pay on the public sector deposits, as Carlos mentioned as well, it’s a market linked with a lag. So you’d see some pressure coming down from our cost of deposits from that standpoint and a steepening. So any kind of intermediate-level assets kind of repricing at a higher spread to short-term rates is naturally what typically a bank likes. Our positioning is relatively neutral right now. So we’re not really expecting major swings due to interest rates, at least in our current balance sheet positioning.

Carlos Vazquez: Like most banks, there are a normal yield curve at a lower short-term level tends to be good for the business.

Gerard Cassidy: Very good. I appreciate the color. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. There are no further questions on the line. So at this time, I would like to hand back to Ignacio Alvarez for any closing comments.

Ignacio Alvarez: Thank you, everyone, for joining us today and for your questions. We look forward to updating you on our progress in October. Have a great day.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference call, everybody. Thank you very much for joining. You may now disconnect your lines. Have a great rest of your day.