difficult relationship with stabilization policies. for example, strong emphasis was put on reducing fiscal deficits via tax increases while neglecting reforms to the tax administration, to support the fight against tax evasion and broaden the tax base, both of which are admittedly of utmost importance in the case of greece. last but not least, sequencing of reforms played a crucial role, in the sense that labour market reforms were prioritized over product and services market reforms, contrary to analysis that suggested that reforms in product markets tend to facilitate or drive reforms in the labour market1. according to oecd, the existing reforms, along with those envisaged in the programme, are expected to lead to a cumulative increase in real gdp of around 13 % within a decade. this effect mainly works via an increase in the total factor productivity. however, there is a fundamental inconsistency relating to time when it comes to the cost - benefit analysis of reform measures : cost is immediate, whereas benefits are only realized in the long 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches term. thus, the time horizon over which reforms yield measurable outcomes usually exceeds a government ’ s time horizon. this is a major disincentive for reforms internationally and has played a major role in greece in recent years. this also explains why some reforms, although legislated, were effectively not fully implemented. in addition, the cost is beared by few but the benefits are reaped by many. however, those few that are directly affected from a reform are vocal in their opposition, while those who benefit in the long run do not advocate the benefits with the same tenacity. these opposing forces may explain the inertia of the status quo. * * * greece completed the financial support and adjustment programmes with a favourable legacy of adopted reforms. and although many things have changed, several reforms still need to be reinforced, given the poor initial conditions. in other words, the performance has been impressive in terms of first differences but, given the initial low level of structural competitiveness, greece still lags behind its peers. hence, the reform process must be pursued until the final goal is achieved, i. e. a competitive and dynamic economy that is able to stand on its own two feet. political and social awareness that the greek economy cannot return to the previous status quo is widely accepted, after the implementation of three adjustment programmes. i hope that this will suffice to bring about sustained support to reforms among greek policy

contracts increased most among permanent seasonal workers and permanent part - time workers. it is obvious that it´s still too early to assess properly the impact of this labour market reform, and any such evaluation will have to consider multiple issues, including employment, labour turnover, human capital accumulation, among others. in the meantime, learning from the experience in other countries about the impact of similar regulatory changes on temporary employment could prove to be useful for the design of a rigorous evaluation of this reform in the case of spain. these issues are covered in the first session. second, another major challenge for the spanish economy is the dismal performance of aggregate productivity, the ultimate and most important engine of economic growth and prosperity. average annual total factor productivity growth over the 2000 - 2019 period was 0. 2 % in spain, as against 0. 5 % in the euro area ( and 0. 9 % in the united states ). among the various determinants of this gap, recent literature has been highlighting the role of the misallocation of resources across firms and the small size of businesses, which has a bearing on the country ’ s low aggregate productivity. in particular, 35. 7 % of total employment is in firms with less than 10 employees, compared with 28. 5 % in the european union. to tackle this challenge, it is essential to explore the various reasons why our business sector is so skewed towards small, low - productivity firms and to mitigate the effects. for example, as part of a strategy to stimulate business growth, smaller firms with high productivity potential should be helped to access a wider range of external sources of funding on more advantageous conditions, while the policies supporting business innovation should be strengthened. this is the topic of the second session. third, the fight against climate change and the transition towards a more sustainable economy are also important challenges facing the world economy in general and spain in particular. there is for example consensus among the scientific community that the iberian peninsula could be significantly affected by the physical risks associated with climate change and that this impact would be highly uneven across regions. resolutely addressing this challenge will entail a profound structural change in our growth model that will have far - reaching implications for all areas of activity. this transformational process will also, foreseeably, have a very unequal impact across the different regions, industries, firms and households. in this green transition, governments have a leading role to play through, for instance, green taxation, compensatory