INTERNATIONAL MONETARY AND FINANCIAL COMMITTEE  Forty-Sixth Meeting October 13–14, 2022 Statement No. 46-11  Statement by Mr. Taleb Algeria On behalf of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia  Statement by Honorable Salah-Eddine Taleb Governor of the Bank of Algeria On behalf of Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, and Tunisia Since our last meeting, the global economy has weakened further and its prospects have become more uncertain, reflecting the three recent major overlapping, connected and mutually reinforcing global crises: the lingering supply-demand imbalances of the pandemic; the fallout from the war in Ukraine; and soaring inflation. The “cost-of-living crisis” has hit vulnerable countries everywhere and vulnerable groups in every country, including the middle class, the hardest. To be clear, the underlying global price pressures, particularly food and energy, were already evident in late 2021, but were sharply accentuated by sanctions and disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine. Virtually all risks identified by the April 2022 WEO materialized, but the inflation surprise seemingly blindsided policymakers in major countries, compelling them to move aggressively to tighten monetary policy. The negative spillovers of the tightening of global financial conditions are being acutely felt in Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs), including the frontier economies and middle-income countries in our constituency, through currency depreciation, capital outflows, higher external debt servicing cost, and diminished (or even loss of) access to international financial markets.

In line with the above-stated overview, the presentation will address the following: (i) activity of the Supervisory Council and strengthening corporate governance; (ii) monetary policy decisions, achieved results and future challenges; (iii) measures taken to enhance financial stability and promote lending; (iv) steps taken to foster internal control and monitoring systems and procedures; and, (v) work carried out to strengthen independence, accountability and transparency. I would like to start with the activity of the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania and our work toward good governance. 1. Activity of the Supervisory Council and strengthening institutional governance The Supervisory Council has performed its activity in line with the competences set out in the Law “On the Bank of Albania” and the procedures established in the regulation on its organisation and functioning. During 2016, the Council met 15 times and approved 136 decisions, of which 82 were acts approved for the first time, and 54 were amendments to existing acts. Eight meetings were dedicated to monetary policy decisions, four meetings focused on issues related to supervision and financial stability, and three other meetings were dedicated to control and oversight of the activity of the institution. The decisions have been thoroughly communicated to the public through press conferences, publication of relevant reports and public explanation, on a case by case basis, of various issues. Beyond formulating policies and monitoring their implementation, the vision of the Supervisory Council is to raise the public trust in the Bank of Albania by enhancing the governance of this institution.