member bank of the system. special attention will be paid to control on specific lending procedures and review of re - rating made and of provisioning performance for non - performing loans. furthermore, the bank of albania has included in its priorities of 2006 the project on creating the credit register, a facility that will help the process of controlling and verifying loan borrowers. i would like to clarify that the banking system stability is of special priority for us, therefore we remain committed to carry out precisely all the recommendations given by the imf ’ s report of financial sector assessment program ( fsap ) over 2005. i think that the concept of bank is inevitably related with the concept of confidence. for me confidence is transparency, transparency and only transparency. i deem that enhancement of transparency is a primary condition that leads to increased access of the population to your business. this increase implies deposits increase, credit extension, more competition and more effective financial intermediation. above all, enhancement of transparency means more opportunities and lower costs to your clients. think for a moment that the quantity of money circulating and “ sleeping ” outside banking channels is still high. turning back to my discussion in the last meeting organised by the world bank and the puglia region, i would like to emphasize that more than half of remittances enter the country through unofficial channels. according to balance of payments statistics of 2005, it speaks about a potential close to eur 700 - 800 million. i believe this fact does not need any comment. out of our surveys the causes are different. however, high fees applied by the banks are often brought up as a motive why individuals do not prefer banking service. on the other hand the increased circulation of money through banking channels requires enhanced prudence for preventing money laundering and terrorism financing. the combat against money laundering is an ongoing challenge that relates to the major problems our country is facing with, such as : cash economy, fiscal evasion, and economy informality. therefore, at the beginning of the year we undertook a partial examination on 7 banks. it resulted out of the examination that in general banks have the proper structures and policies on fighting against money laundering and terrorism financing. however, we also observed some deficiencies having to do with staff training and better knowledge of legal framework. taking into account what i said earlier, i believe that you understand the massage i want to transmit to you today, that is not only banking business extension, but also significant contribution to reducing cash and informality in the economy

with growth close to trend - and with the imbalances within the economy beginning to adjust. in any event i am totally confident that mervyn king, my successor from july, with his deputies, andrew large and rachel lomax, and with the mpc, will be ready to adjust policy in either direction as the prospect changes, and that they will be as totally committed as i have been to maintaining stability and hitting the government's inflation target, as a necessary condition for sustainable growth. that will provide the best possible context for the continued development of your business, and the important contribution that you make to the economy. i, myself, of course, will be looking for a new lease of life in retirement! i'm not aware that it's a lease product any of you actually provide. given our ageing population perhaps you should develop one though you'd better be careful how you market it! in any event i wish you well.