The latest tendency for diversifying the Albanian businesses is useful in principle; however, it should not be made to the detriment of specialization and efficiency, or even less without first making the macroeconomic and sectoral analyses. The inter-sectoral performance of the economy is another issue I would like to discuss with you today and which I briefly mentioned earlier in my speech. The country’s economic development has been characterized by a growth and investment model which has favoured the services and construction businesses, compared to the exporting industries or the competitive ones in imports. Although this performance somehow reflects the tendency to perform similarly to the economic structure of developed and advanced economies, it has resulted in over-investments in certain sectors. The economy development cannot be stable if the allocation of funds is not carried out by adhering to the principle of sector productivity and efficiency. The misuse of financial funds impairs the agents and the whole economy, providing severe and long-term consequences on corporate balances sheets and debts, on labour market and on capital and technology allocation among sectors of the economy. To minimize such risks, the Bank of Albania advises you to discontinue the inertial moves in your behaviour and realistically assess the regional and European context in your choices. The competitive advantages of Albania should not be sought only in natural resources, or in meeting of yet unserved demands of the Albanian market, but also in the cheap work force of the country and in its position as a future EU member.

Dear participants, In the optics of historical developments and particularly of recent events, I would like to briefly dwell upon several vulnerabilities that we, as the politic, supervisory and regulatory authority, have highlighted, as well as the lessons we should draw and the issues we should address for the country’s further economic development. Lessons from the crisis Right from the beginning, I would like to emphasize that generally, the philosophy of the country’s economic development has been accurate. Market openness and increased competition have made the Albanian economy benefit the fruits of private sector initiatives. The practice of economies based on free market principles has broadly indicated that this sector remains the most efficient engine of the economic activity. This process has been sustained even by the constant reduction of the state’s share to the economy, as well as by its focus on procurement of public goods and infrastructure development. Positive financial market development has generated the necessary funds for supporting investments and consumption in the economy. Though chiefly for historical reasons, our banking system has based its activity on the intermediation of domestic funds of the economy, the recent developments indicated that it remains as much capable in generating foreign funds to provide capital and liquidity backstop to the Albanian economy. On the other hand, the integration of our financial system into the European one has raised the resilience of the Albanian economy to various shocks, of which the latest is still under operation.