In the decade preceding the crisis we tried to compensate for a substantial decline in economic activity of the 1990s. Between 2001 and 2008 average annual GDP growth rate was 5.4%.
But the structure of economic growth, was far from conducive to its stability and sustainability because it implied excessive reliance on consumption and speedy expansion of services, while the production of tradeables, in industry and agriculture in particular, lagged substantially behind.