In fact, in 2016 the Spanish economy recorded a current account surplus of close to 2% of GDP and the external balance is expected to perform positively over the medium term, although probably less so than during the last two years. 3/8  The normalisation of financial conditions The recovery in economic activity and competitiveness is also related to the decline in financing costs. Since the most acute phases of financial stress in the second half of 2011 and in the first half of 2012, there has been a gradual normalisation of the financing costs of firms and households, with less divergence from the interest rates paid by economic agents in other Eurosystem countries. The decline in the cost of financing has stimulated business investment and helped to enhance household spending possibilities, with a positive impact on economic activity. The normalisation of financial conditions has also extended to the level of household and business debt, which has fallen significantly in recent years, in relative terms. In keeping with this reduction in private sector debt, aggregate bank lending continues to decline, although at increasingly slower rates. This is the case, in particular, of lending to households and non-financial corporations that do not belong to the construction and property development sector.
In other words, fulfilling the convergence criteria in a sustainable way ensures that the country can integrate smoothly into the monetary union, without a risk of disruption for the Member State itself or the euro area as a whole. The convergence process and the fulfillment of the criteria are therefore •  not used to exclude countries by putting up extra hurdles for them to pass;  •  they are used to ensure that their inclusion occurs smoothly and to the mutual benefit of the country in question and the euro area as a whole. IV  Once a country is able to fulfil these legal and economic criteria in a sustainable manner, it joins the euro area. However, the adoption of the euro is not the end of the story. It is merely the end of the beginning. Indeed, joining the euro is not in itself a recipe for success. Countries need to pursue the right policies in order to thrive in the euro area. Joining the EMU removes the national instrument of nominal exchange rate adjustment. This implies increased flexibility of national economies and increased responsibilities for the co-ordination of the national economic policies of the member states, because they have to compensate for the elimination of this adjustment channel.