half a percentage point so far in 2007. more specifically, this year there has been an overall decline in inflation rates among traditional high - inflation countries compared with last year. however, since august, inflation rates in all countries have risen, probably as a result of higher oil and food prices. this implies that dispersion in the euro area is currently somewhat below inflation dispersion among the 14 us metropolitan statistical areas, where it has fluctuated around 1 percentage point over the last two decades. the dispersion in real gdp growth rates, measured in terms of the unweighted standard deviation, has been moving around a level of 2 percentage points over the past few decades, with no apparent upward or downward trend. this is similar to the dispersion witnessed in output growth across regions within the united states. the persistence of macroeconomic developments in the euro area a key feature of the observed economic diversity is the persistence of macroeconomic developments across euro area countries. for example, the difference in the cumulated growth of real gdp between the two euro area countries with the largest and the smallest output increases, respectively, was more than 50 percentage points in the period 1998 - 2006. the situation was similar across us states. furthermore, the equivalent accumulated spread between the two euro area countries with the lowest and highest inflation rates was almost 20 percentage points and in unit labour costs for the total economy between 20 and 25 cpis data, imf, 2005. percentage points over the same period. in the united states, the spread in cpi inflation between the two metropolitan areas with the lowest and highest inflation rates was slightly lower, at around 18 % for the same period. in the euro area, in addition to the decline in dispersion of inflation, activity and labour cost developments, another key feature is that business cycles are converging and output gap fluctuations are becoming more similar across countries. this feature is not apparent in the united states, where the dispersion of cycles and of trend gdp growth, seem to explain roughly equal parts of growth dispersion between states. for instance, last year, the acceleration in activity and the rebound in the euro area ’ s real gdp growth was a widely shared phenomenon across the various euro area member countries. hence, registered growth dispersion across the euro area countries seems to be mainly explained by differences in trend output growth, rather than cyclical developments, a feature i would like to reflect more on. differences in trend output growth in the euro area the differences

benoit cœure : interview in kathimerini interview with mr benoit cœure, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in kathimerini, conducted by ms eirini chrysolora and published on 5 september 2018. * * * does the completion of the programme mark a new era for greece in your view? is enhanced surveillance not just a continuation of the programme? let me start by saying that it would be all too easy to take the opportunity of greece graduating from the programme to turn the page and say “ mission accomplished ”. the programme years have been very difficult for the greek people. policymakers across europe have a duty to learn the lessons of this painful journey and improve policy, at both european and national levels. with hindsight, one can argue that the design of the programmes could have been more effective in supporting social safety nets and combating rent - seeking, that the pace of reform of the financial sector could have been faster, and that the need for debt reduction was overlooked by creditors. all this has gradually improved over time. i would like to congratulate the greek government for its remarkable work in recent years, implementing key reforms in the economy and the society in general and in the financial sector in particular. for example, social solidarity income helps direct scarce resources to those who need them most, and opening up industries or sectors, such as pharmacies, benefits households which have borne the brunt of crisis adjustment. regarding the financial sector more specifically, the new legislative framework provides much better support for reducing non - performing loans ( npls ) compared with the situation a couple of years ago. this will help banks support economic growth and job creation more effectively. but let ’ s not forget where it all started. never again should a euro area country end up in such an unsustainable position as greece ’ s in 2010. we need responsible national fiscal and economic policies, and a better euro area governance framework. as for enhanced surveillance, it is not a new programme but rather a strengthened form of cooperation between greece, the european institutions and the euro area countries to support the transition towards full market access. make no mistake, the burden of gaining the trust of markets and depositors has now fully shifted to the greek government. don ’ t expect building trust among investors to be easier than convincing the institutions. what will be the ecb ’ s role in the context of enhanced surveillance? will you provide your contribution as in the past