0.5% of annual GDP, to achieve a structural public balance in equilibrium. 9  In this regard, if the ratio between the total tax take and GDP is taken as reference, it stood at approximately 35% last year, around 6 pp lower than that recorded in the euro area as a whole (decreasing to around 3 pp when the arithmetic mean of the various countries is considered). Spain is particularly notable for its low level of consumption taxation, in international comparisons, and for a low revenueraising capacity in respect of environmental taxes. 10  Specifically, the simulation presented on the slide assumes that potential economic growth will stand at slightly above 1%, the GDP deflator will converge towards 2% from the mid-2020s, and average interest rates on debt will rise only moderately from their present levels. 36  Moreover, it should be emphasised that debt reductions would be greater under alternative scenarios in which the potential economic growth rate rises, highlighting the importance of pursuing policies in this respect, which I will now go on to discuss.11 (ii) Policies to foster long-term growth In the strategies to reduce public debt in the medium and long term, the role played by policies to promote sustained growth in activity and employment must be at least as important as that of the multi-year budget plans.
However, there is a risk that the complexity of these instruments will increase the difficulty of seeing to which credit risks companies and banks are actually exposed. 2  BIS Review 18/2002  The complexity of the financial instruments and the fact that they are often found, in various forms, on both the asset side and the liability side of companies' balance sheets as well as "off balance sheet", makes it difficult to detect the financial risks within banks and companies. This is particularly serious as an increasing number of households have their savings in these companies' shares, but nor is it easy for professional analysts and portfolio managers to see. The collapse of the American company Enron can serve as an example of the problems connected with the development of complicated financial instruments. A lack of understanding of the instruments used and a lack of transparency in the company's accounting meant that directly after the collapse there was considerable concern over possible contagion effects. Here I do not mean the evident breach of the regulations in force, where auditors burn documents and senior managers sell shares in the company prior to publishing negative information. Enron raises a number of other, in the long term more fundamental, issues. Today, I shall limit myself to discussing three of these. Firstly, Enron was basically an energy company, which in time came to pursue financial operations on a large scale, but without coming under the supervision to which financial companies are normally subjected.