gent sejko : launching of the new albanian banknote serie address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the launching of the new albanian banknote serie, tirana, 12 september 2019. * * * honourable minister denaj and minister shalesi, your excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to have you with us in this very important day for the bank of albania and our national currency. in the history of the modern albanian state, the establishment and modernisation of its monetary and financial systems has a substantial place. the albanian currency is a symbol that has been present throughout the development of the country, bearing distinctive features of each era in the history of albania. it is not a coincidence that one of the key objectives in the creation of a national bank was, among others, the issue of the albanian currency, immediately after the sublime act of the declaration of independence that laid the foundations on which the albanian state was created. in 1926, one year on from its founding, in 1925, the national bank of albania presented and put in circulation, for the first time, a complete series of albanian banknotes and coins. subsequent developments in the centralisation and later modernisation of the albanian state dictated the need for continuous improvements of banknotes in terms of both content and design. it has always represented, however, the economic, social and political development phases of albania. through the themes and art embodied in its design, the national currency remains a faithful herald of the development, culture and history of a country. thanks to these attributes, the currency is in itself a significant element of the national identity. the theme of the current series of albanian banknotes, created more than 20 years ago, features important historical periods of the albanian nation, and prominent personalities of albania. these themes, embodied in each banknote through the portraits of some of the most illustrious national figures, evoke notable episodes in the history of albania in its endeavours for freedom and prosperity. the themes lead us on a journey through historical eras, starting from antiquity, moving through the middle ages, the national awakening, the independence of albania, and concluding with the symbols of the national flag and anthem on the latest and largest denomination, the 10. 000 lek banknote. these symbols have been chosen as representative and unifying elements for every albanian. while the new series that we are presenting today retains the same themes of the already existing series, its design

will remember the controversial debate about how to convert the east german mark into the deutsche mark. in the end, wages in eastern germany were converted one to one into the deutsche mark. the then president of the bundesbank karl - otto pohl had warned – for the same reasons that hans - werner sinn put forward – that this was to the disadvantage of companies in eastern germany. however, he later acknowledged that there was hardly any alternative, as “ political realities were stronger than economic logic ”. the high level of unemployment in eastern germany was cushioned by transfers from the western part. while the exact amount of these transfers is difficult to calculate, hans - werner sinn once estimated that transfers paid up to the present day amount to around €1. 8 trillion – roughly the size of the german gdp in 1991, 4 but this number certainly comprises more than just the transfers via the social security system. a central tenet of “ jumpstart ” is that it would have been much cheaper to compensate employees for accepting lower wages than to compensate the unemployed for their job losses. 5 “ implement distributional objectives through transfers and not by altering factor prices ” was the economic principle that hans - werner sinn saw violated in the formation of the sinn, gerlinde and sinn, hans - werner ( 1993 ). kaltstart – volkswirtschaftliche aspekte der deutschen einheit. 3rd revised edition, deutscher taschenbuch verlag. ibid. sinn, gerlinde and sinn, hans - werner ( 2015 ). die deutsche vereinigung als vorbild fur europa? faz, 2 october 2015. sinn, gerlinde and sinn, hans - werner ( 1993 ). kaltstart – volkswirtschaftliche aspekte der deutschen einheit. 3rd revised edition, deutscher taschenbuch verlag. bis central bankers ’ speeches economic union between the two germanys. and he feared that this would allow wages to remain above the market clearing level for too long. and also the distributional objectives were only partly achieved : not least because unemployment in eastern germany is still higher than in the western part, per capita income in eastern germany is still only 71 % of that in western germany. it is this experience which explains at least partly why many german economists are sceptical about establishing a transfer union in europe, as at the european level these problems are aggravated by the fact that the balance between control and