, with a deficit of only 0. 2 % of gdp for the year as a whole. current forecasts point to surpluses on the current account for 2013, 2014 and successive years. in addition to the contraction in imports attributable to the fall - off in domestic spending, this performance reflects the restoring of the competitiveness lost by the spanish economy during the expansion that ended in 2008. by late 2012, two - thirds of the gap built up since 2000 between spanish unit labour costs and those for the euro area on average had already been corrected. these gains in competitiveness have been accompanied, in the most recent period, by notable growth in the number of exporting firms and by greater geographical diversification of our exports, with an ever - increasing weight of those targeted on emerging markets. competitiveness and market reform to put the favourable external sector performance on a firm footing, we must build on and further the improvements in competitiveness. in this connection, the markets for factors and goods and services must function in a way conducive to containing costs, margins and prices. clearly, in the labour market, we need a stable employment - promoting regulatory framework which, at the same time, affords sufficient flexibility to attune working conditions to the circumstances of the business cycle. indeed, greater moderation and flexibility can be seen in wage - setting in recent quarters, as can – and this is also important – a lesser degree of indexation. a more intensive use of the wage and non - wage flexibility mechanisms envisaged in the new regulatory framework would lend continuity to this ongoing improvement in competitiveness. but our problems of lack of flexibility and competition were not and are not only in the labour market. in the market for goods and services, the recently approved national reform plan includes a set of measures aimed at removing obstacles to competition, attaining productivity gains in various sectors and improving the functioning of various institutions. private - sector deleveraging and lending the overindebtedness of households and firms is another of the major problems that arose in the last upturn in the spanish economy. private debt / gdp ratios have fallen from their peaks in 2010, but at a relatively slow pace. the main explanation for this sluggishness lies in the downturn in private - sector nominal income since the onset of the crisis. unlike in other economies with problems of excess household and corporate debt, such as the united kingdom and the united states, in spain weak nominal growth has weighed on the

over the coming decade ) will be needed to successfully undertake the energy transition. the banking sector's participation will be essential to mobilise such a volume of investment which, in turn, represents a clear incentive for credit institutions to become involved in this challenge. however, i think it is also fair to recognise the recent climate commitment, signed on the occasion of the cop25, and the launch of the centre for responsible and sustainable finance ( finresp by its spanish abbreviation ), which convey the sector ’ s commitment to this fight. the paris agreement of 2015 is considered to be the turning point that highlighted the role that finance can play in the transition process. over the last five years, so - called ‘ green finance ’ has become more visible and climbed up the agenda of international financial organisations. on the central banking and banking supervision front, the work by the network for greening the financial sector ( ngfs ) is undoubtedly noteworthy. this network was created in late 2017 with the aim of analysing, defining and promoting best practices relating to the management of climate risk in the financial sector. the banco de espana actively participates in the work of the ngfs, whose membership has grown exponentially to now comprise around 72 members and 13 observers. i say ‘ around ’ because there are so many applications to join that it is easy to lose count. in short, i believe that there is a high degree of consensus among official authorities, society, firms, the banking sector and supervisors and regulators as regards the need for changes to address this unavoidable challenge. the work of the financial sector in this collective challenge is undoubtedly important. allow me to briefly refer to what we are doing in the banco de espana to foster the financial world's contribution to sustainability. as regulator, our mandate is to ensure the financial stability of the economy. in this regard, our competencies as micro - and macroprudential supervisor require us to be able to assess and quantify the risks entailed by the transition to a more sustainable economy, both for each individual bank and for the financial sector as a whole. indeed, the transformative measures to change our productive model will affect bank borrowers. in some cases, they will give rise to opportunities, but there is no way of hiding that these transformations will adversely impact the business model of certain sectors. therefore, it should come as no surprise that as supervisors we require that banks measure the risks derived from the transition process and incorporate them into their