During 2011, seminars and round-tables were organised, aiming at training and sharing scientific novelties among economists at local and international level, thus making the Bank of Albania a point of reference for researchers of economics and finance. The main focus of Bank of Albania’s research papers was on issues pertaining to: financial stability, monetary policy, fiscal policy, regional integration and trade relations, study of uncertainties arising from estimation of econometric models, etc. At the same time, with the assistance of foreign experts, we worked for constructing and improving macroeconomic and statistical models, on the basis of which the Bank of Albania builds its projections for macroeconomic and financial indicators.   Improving communication with the public  Establishment of transparent and productive relations with the public is an integral part of Bank of Albania’s development strategy. The conduct of activities for financial education of the public was a priority of the communication strategy in 2011. In order to achieve Bank of Albania’s objectives in this area, we carried out a number of educational activities in 2011. Among them, we would highlight the project for integrating the financial education into high-school curricula in Albania. A working group with Bank of Albania’s experts, assisted by experts of curricula from the Institute for Educational Development, worked for compiling the curricula and preparing the text in the form of a free-choice module, which was incorporated into the high-school curricula for the first time in the 2011/2012 academic year.

They have revealed that the entities have generally taken preventive measures. Transparency and publication of information were subject to reforms in 2011 and aimed at establishing a more appropriate business climate for banks and providing higher protection to the public. Banks, on their side, have responded positively by adapting their internal regulatory framework in line with these changes. Further improvement is needed to enhance the transparency with regard to credit agreements, which have been a source of customer complaint and on focus of examinations on transparency and corrective measures taken by the Bank of Albania. The practices for deposit and account estimation, as well as disclosure and addressing of customer complaints are generally regarded as less problematic. Supervision of non-bank financial institutions is also a functional part of the Bank of Albania. Their number amounted to 19, from 17 a year earlier; their specific share remained unchanged, accounting for 3.1% of banking system assets. During 2011, their activity posted moderate growth with regard to total assets, loan portfolio and financial profit. Overall, non-bank financial institutions have adhered to regulatory framework and supervision standards. However, on-site examinations have identified several problems, thereby making appropriate recommendations related to them. Among them, we would highlight the need to: improve lending process; revise internal regulatory framework; enhance transparency to clients, etc. The expansion dynamics of the financial sector activity is reflected in the licensing process.