thus stood well above the reference value for the interest rate criterion of 7.8% set on the basis of the three best-performing Member States in terms of price stability . This was also the case for 1997 as a whole , while in 1996 the rate was considerably above the reference value ( see Table 12 ) .
12 ) . Durante gli anni novanta , i tassi di interesse a lungo termine hanno manifestato una tendenza complessivamente decrescente , fatta eccezione per il 1997 ( cfr .