Regarding the international reserve management, regulatory amendments have been made to clarify the function of international reserve management and the responsibilities of decisionmaking structures, as well as to broaden the range of investment instruments in compliance with the adopted policies. As at end-2017, the international reserve was around EUR 3 billion, sufficient to cover 6.7 months of imports of goods and services, and 178% of the short-term external debt. The yield on its investment was slightly negative, due to the low interest rates of euro in international markets. The economic and financial analyses and the decisions of the Bank of Albania are based on a broad research work within the institution. The Bank of Albania deems that the investment in human resources and in research techniques is always rewarding, taking into account the rapid structural changes in the economy and in the financial markets. The monetary policy transmission, the safeguarding of financial stability, the banking supervision and the coordination among these objectives were the main focus of working papers during 2017. The results are shared with national and international experts in scientific panels and are published in working papers. Also, the international experts have continued to assist to improve the macro-economic and statistical models, which support Bank of Albania projections. Public communication is an important pillar in Bank of Albania’s activity for enhancing the transparency and public confidence in the institution. The classic channels of communication are supplemented with digital platforms, such as Twitter (information), YouTube (video) and Flicker (photos).

In 2017, the Bank of Albania, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the World Bank explored options for developing the secondary market of Government securities and improving the functioning of the primary market. This project will help in the Government securities trading, increasing the investors’ base, and forming a yield curve that is a representative one for the economy. Such a curve enables a better management of liquidity for all the financial agents, as well as a better monetary policy transmission to financial markets. I would like, however, to underline that the development of markets is a long process, which requires cooperation by all economic and financial agents in the economy. *** Turning to the contribution of the Bank of Albania in the overall improvement of the financial and economic context, I would like to present now our work with regard to safeguarding and promoting financial stability. The main aspects of our work consisted in strengthening the stability 5/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  of the banking system, enhancing its resilience to shocks and adoption of international standards. 3. Financial stability and banking system performance In 2017, the activity of the banking system was stable and supported the safeguarding of the financial stability. As at the end of 2017, the share of its assets stood at 92.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The main financial indicators of the banking sector activity improved, and the net financial result of the banking sector grew considerably in 2017.