Indeed, according to harmonised competitiveness indicators based on unit labour costs have all registered significant improvements since 1999, Ireland (–19% since 1999), Spain (–9.5%), Greece (–9%), and Portugal (–6.6%). The loss of competitiveness accumulated until 2007 has been totally offset since the beginning of the crisis.
As a consequence, the EU Commission forecast for this year is that all stressed countries will show a surplus on current account with the exception of Greece with a deficit of just 1.1 % of GDP. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  And euro area countries are increasing their growth-potential by implementing wide-ranging structural reforms.