Ardian Fullani: Needed – a new way of thinking, a new approach to economic policy Speech by Mr Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the 6th South-Eastern European Economic Research Workshop, organized by the Bank of Albania, Tirana, 19 November 2012. *  *  *  Dear workshop participants, Dear central banks colleagues, I am very happy to be here today, in this 6th South-Eastern European Economic Research Workshop. This Workshop is an annual event that Bank of Albania organizes, aiming to successfully bring together researchers and their work from the region and beyond. We are very glad for your personal contribution and your institutions’ commitment to this activity. The participation map extends every year and we take this development as a sign of recognition. This activity takes place as Albania celebrates its 100 anniversary of independence, which happened on 28 November 1912; we are, therefore, very happy to welcome you on the occasion of this very important event. The South-Eastern European Economic Research Workshop provides a platform to discuss and, most importantly, improve our work. It also provides a platform that contributes to the extension of regional cooperation in the area of research, making an additional contribution to the cooperation in other important areas of Central Banking in the region. As I have previously mentioned, countries of the SEE region are similar in many aspects including the state of economic problems and economic research. We are focusing on finding the problems in the existing models.

Likewise, the impulse by the fiscal sector is expected to be lower than in the past year. Under these circumstances, the growth speed and rate of the economy at home will be determined largely by the performance of private domestic demand components: consumption and investments. Our analyses reveal the existence of room for higher growth in the future. This growth will be supported also by stimulating monetary and financial conditions, in response to the monetary policy of the Bank of Albania. *** Taking into account the above overview, the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania deemed that the inflationary pressures remain subdued over the monetary policy horizon. The output gap will continue to be negative in the period ahead, materialising in low inflationary pressures originating from domestic demand. Moreover, inflationary pressures from developments in the global economy are expected to be downward, whereas inflation expectations remain anchored. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  The expected performance of real and monetary indicators is reflected in projections for the inflation, which is expected to range within the target of the Bank of Albania for the period ahead. At the conclusion of discussions, the Supervisory Council decided to keep the key interest rate unchanged at 4.50%. This decision serves to comply with our medium-term inflation target and provides the appropriate monetary conditions to stimulate Albania’s economic activity. The Bank of Albania remains heedful to future economic and financial developments at home and abroad as well as diligent to accomplish its mandate. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3