The arrival of the euro also had a positive effect on growth, in spite of the serious difficulties during the crisis. Since 1999, GDP per capita has been growing at 1.2%, which is 0.1% higher than in the other euro area countries and much higher than during the early years of our democracy. Recently, some people have tried to blame the euro for the length of the financial crisis in Spain and have advocated control over monetary policy interest rates and exchange rates. What they 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  often forget is that being a member of the euro area enables Spanish households and businesses to benefit from lower real interest rates, lower inflation rates and reduced macroeconomic volatility, all of which boost productive investments and make a vital contribution to the sustainability of public finances. Furthermore, it is not true that structural currency devaluations solve economic crises. Devaluations are short-term measures. In the long term, the competitive boost they provide is eroded by the higher inflation they cause. And, in a complex system of global production chains like the one we have today, devaluations can make it harder for businesses to plan. The euro is also the second-most important currency in the international monetary system3, which strengthens Spain’s credibility in a global context. It’s true that the crisis revealed significant institutional shortcomings in the structure of the monetary union, but it’s equally true that European countries have taken this on board and carried out substantial reforms.
1 The text was published as an op-ed in Expansión on 6 December 2018. 2 See the survey entitled “Europe as seen from Spain and France” (Europa vista desde España y Francia), Elcano  Royal Institute, March 2018. 3 See “The international role of the euro”, ECB interim report, June 2018. 4 See Almunia, Miguel, Pol Antràs, David Lopez-Rodriguez, and Eduardo Morales. 2018. “Venting Out: Exports  during a Domestic Slump”. 2/2  BIS central bankers' speeches