is also being promoted through structural reforms, which have increased the flexibility of labour and product markets. as a result of the improvements in competitiveness, a rebalancing of the economy is taking place. the share of exports in gdp rose from 18 per cent in 2009 to 25 per cent in 2012. it will continue to rise. the current account deficit, which reached 15 per cent of gdp in 2008, fell to 3 ½ per cent last year. it will continue to fall. the banking sector strategy i now turn to the banking sector. as i mentioned, what had started out as a liquidity problem threatened to turn into a solvency problem. we had to step - in to preserve financial system stability. the first step was to calculate the amount needed to recapitalize the banking system. the determination of the losses on the bond portfolios was straightforward. what was challenging was to calculate, in a conservative manner, all possible losses on the loan portfolios of banks in the coming years. bis central bankers ’ speeches for this purpose the bank of greece worked with blackrock solutions. once this work was finished, most pieces were in place for the calculation of the capital needs of banks. the second part of our strategy was to assess which banks were good candidates for recapitalization with programme funds. the bank of greece, in association with bain, conducted a “ viability assessment ”. the result of the “ viability assessment ” was that the four largest banks, now called “ core banks ”, were assessed as eligible for recapitalization with public sector funds. these banks were assessed as the most likely to repay such capital within a reasonable timeframe. the total amount set aside under the adjustment programme for the restructuring of the banking system is €50 billion. when our exercise started there were 17 commercial banks in operation : four core banks and thirteen non - core banks. so far, the resolution framework has been used to resolve 8 banks ( 5 commercial banks and 3 co - operative banks ). all core banks have now concluded corporate decision - making processes to increase their capital by the amounts required by the bank of greece. shortly, we will end up with four well - capitalized core banks and a few non - core banks. as a result, the banking system is becoming more compact and efficient, eliminating excess capacity and exploiting synergies and economies of scale. it is becoming stronger and is well - capitalized. other developments the recent progress that greece has made in

, such as production, is expected to give favorable effects to corporate and household income gradually. consequently, economic developments still require careful monitoring, although the economy is turning to improve. further, it is important to promote structural reform in order to encourage a recovery in private demand. with regard to prices, import prices are increasing somewhat due to the rise to date in international commodity prices, such as crude oil prices. domestic wholesale prices, notwithstanding the fall in prices of electric machinery, are flat due to an increase in prices of some products closely related to this report was written based on data and information available when the bank of japan monetary policy meeting was held on 12 november 1999. the bank ’ s view on recent economic and financial developments, determined by the policy board at the monetary policy meeting held on 12 november as the basis of monetary policy decisions. international commodities, such as those of petroleum products. consumer prices remain unchanged. corporate service prices are still falling slowly. as regards the movements of overall prices in the future, they are likely to be flat despite the continued fall in prices of some goods and services, as the rise in crude oil prices to date will continue to be passed on to prices of other products for a while. however, substantial narrowing in the output gap led by a recovery in private demand is unlikely for the time being, and wages continue to follow a declining trend. thus, downward pressure on prices is expected to remain. in the financial market, the overnight call rate has stayed at nearly zero, and financial institutions have been confident about the availability of overnight funds. the amount outstanding of funds in the call money market has remained generally stable since the middle of june. as for interest rates on term instruments, short - term rates maturing before the year - end have remained at a historically low level. meanwhile, rates maturing beyond the year - end are rising due to market participants ’ concern over the year 2000 problem. the japan premium has continued to be nearly zero for short - term transactions, but there remains a small premium for transactions maturing beyond the year - end. yields on long - term government bonds rose to around 1. 9 per cent in late october. they declined somewhat thereafter and are presently moving between 1. 7 and 1. 8 per cent again. the yield spread between private bonds ( bank debentures and corporate bonds ) and government bonds once stopped contracting. however, there has recently been a conspicuous narrowing in the spread, primarily between private bonds with relatively low credit ratings and government