14 It should be noted, however, that a slower pass-through  13  This result, ho wever, masks a significant degree o f hetero geneity acro ss co untries: th e share o f ho useho ld debt with interest rates that reset within a year stands at 76% in Italy and 71% in Spain, but just 9% in France and 11% in Germany. 14  In spite o f the sluggish respo nse o f the remuneratio n o f retail depo sits, the pass-thro ugh o f market rates to retail lending rates in the euro area has been similar to in the past fo r mo rtgages, whereas in the case o f lo ans to non -financial co rpo ratio ns it has been mo derately faster, acco rding to Banco de España staff analysis. 7  to deposit rates may also have dampening effects on household spending, by slowing down the increase in savers’ financial income. On the other hand, certain factors point to a potential faster monetary policy transmission compared to past episodes. First, the current hiking cycle comes after the negative shock prompted by the pandemic, which adversely impacted the financial situation of firms by increasing their debt levels. This leaves them more vulnerable to interest hikes rates and their expenditure decisions may be more sensitive to monetary policy changes. Second, there is some evidence that monetary policy tightening is now impacting firms’ financing conditions more forcibly than in the past.
This occurred because the fiscal policy during the pre-crisis boom had been strongly procyclical, so that the economic advance of over 9 percent in 2008 was followed by sharp falls in the next two years: –5.5 percent in 2009 and –3.9 percent in 2010. The lesson learned here  is that there is no viable alternative to a predictable and coherent mix of economic policies and structural reforms. Let me stress that this mix should remain in place even when facing the challenges of election years, and there are several election rounds in Romania in 2019 and 2020. The fourth lesson could deal with the issue of whether joining the euro area ensures faster growth or not. I attended the celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of euro adoption in Slovenia and Slovakia. While in the latter country euro area membership is considered a success story, in Slovenia it is viewed as a necessary, yet painful, step. During my conversation with a Slovenian expert, I argued that the difficulties faced after euro adoption were the consequence of not cleaning up banks’ balance sheets before euro area entry. He replied that the people were not interested in these details, as what they cared about most was the standard of living, which declined after the euro changeover.