AIB's Colin Hunt warns of economic complacency
Colin Hunt, CEO, AIB Group in conversation with Conor Healy, CEO, Cork Chamber at the Cork Chamber Business Breakfast, in association with RDJ, and Irish Examiner, Media Partners at the Metropole Hotel, MacCurtain Street, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins
The resilience of the global economy in the face of geopolitical conflict and shocks is creating a dangerous sense of complacency, the CEO of AIB, Colin Hunt, has said.
Hunt said Ireland is in a significantly stronger position to withstand another economic shock than it was before the financial crisis with household, corporate and government balance sheets now substantially stronger. He said the banking system was also in a far more robust position than it was before the 2008 financial crisis.
Speaking at the Cork Chamber business breakfast, Hunt warned that the continued expansion of the world economy despite wars, geopolitical tensions and trade disruption risked creating the impression that future shocks could also be absorbed without serious consequences.
"One of the things that concerns me is that these major shocks to the world's geopolitical and economic system, we survived each one of them largely unscathed,” he said.
“It creates this view that regardless of the challenge that is thrown at you, you can get through it. And that isn't the case always.”
He described Ireland as being in “pretty good shape”, with the domestic economy performing strongly despite a more uncertain international environment.
“We're coming into a period of ongoing uncertainty,” he said. “We're coming into a period of higher interest rates. We're likely to remain in a period of heightened geopolitical uncertainty for a while.” “But the domestic economy here is doing very well. In cash terms, it'll probably grow by about 5% this year. So the domestic background is pretty positive from a demand perspective.” Hunt also pointed to the scale of the country's economic and population growth since the financial crisis, while warning that infrastructure development had not kept pace.
He said investment in housing and infrastructure was critical to sustaining economic growth and living standards.
A UCC graduate, Colin Hunt began his career in financial markets before moving through senior roles at NatWest, Bank of Ireland and Goodbody Stockbrokers. He also served as a special policy adviser to the Departments of Finance and Transport before becoming managing director of Macquarie Capital in Ireland. Hunt joined AIB in 2016 as managing director of wholesale, institutional and corporate banking and was appointed chief executive in 2019.
He was speaking with Cork Chamber CEO Conor Healy as AIB marks its 60th anniversary this year.
“I describe the 60 years as a moment for celebration and reflection. We do need to reflect on the fact that for 15 of those 60 years we were in the custody of the state, due to some really bad decisions which positioned the bank really poorly going into a local political crisis.
“And the way I look at it, we have a purpose which is empowering people to build a sustainable future. But the purpose we've had going back to the foundation of the bank, which was largely driven from this city, was ultimately an organisation that was established to power Irish economic and social progress,” he said.
“The thing I'm most proud of, and I think this bank has played a leading role in, in terms of the change in banking over 60 years, is that it has been significantly democratised. Banking was an elitist game back in 1966. Even up until the 1980s it was an elitist game. And the democratisation of banking has given people the financial firepower to fuel ambition," Mr Hunt said.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
