Significant improvements have been made to procedures related to the inventory, processing  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  and storage of banknotes, including those for destruction. Particular attention has been paid to setting clear criteria to guarantee high integrity of the employees designated in charge of values or assigned in other units engaged in control, supervision or other similar activities. 2. Economic developments and monetary policy  The Albanian economy continued to improve in 2015. The growth rate accelerated compared to the previous year, and the main indicators of economic and financial equilibriums have been overall improving. Thus: •  current account deficit reduced;  •  budget deficit fell 1.6 percentage points against the GDP;  •  firms’ balance sheet appear more liquid;  •  banking system non-performing loans and profitability indicators have been improving. However, aggregate demand remains insufficient to fully utilise production capacities. Subsequently, the internal economic environment has exercised low pressures for rising inflation, which have been further strengthened by the disinflationary trend noted in international markets. While upward, inflation continued to range below our 3.0% target, during the past year. Following, I will present a summary of the macroeconomic backdrop underlying Bank of Albania’s monetary policy decisions and their results. According to INSTAT data, the Gross Domestic Product rose 2.7% during the first three quarters of 2015. Available data suggest that the economy continued to grow at a similar pace even in the fourth quarter.

Information technology  In 2015, the aspect of Information Technology saw several achievements. The AFISaR system started to operate. It is a central electronic register for the documentation of each element involved in the issue and transactions with securities by the Albanian state. Other achievements include: -  automation of the reporting system for banking activity indicators;  -  integration and optimisation of the IT network utilisation, reducing therefore operational costs of the Bank of Albania;  -  automation of accounting transactions in Bank of Albania branches and improving information processing and storing capacities. xii. Internal audit  In 2015, in addition to planned audits, auditing and non-auditing commitments were carried out, upon the request of the Supervisory Council, Audit Committee, Administrators and Inspector General. Another important development in this regard was the Quality Assessment for the Control [Internal Audit] Department at the Bank of Albania by the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). Conducted for the first time, the assessment serves as an important development plan for strengthening the audit activity in the future. During 2015, nine full-scope audits were conducted. In addition, three full-scope audits started in 2015, but were completed in the first months of 2016, bringing the total number to 12. The findings and recommendations of each audit have been addressed to the heads of the respective units, the Administrators of the Bank of Albania, the Audit Committee and the Supervisory Council, as part of the periodic reporting by the Inspector General. xiii.