. the fiscal policy pursued during the entire year 2008 has observed the targets set in the medium - term budget programme for 2008 - 2010 ; consequently, it has not yielded any repressions in economy and performance of prices. the albanian banking system continues to operate under optimal parameters, in line with the standards of prudent banking supervision. the latest data indicate that the domino effect induced by the developments in the international financial market has been handled with satisfactorily. in addition, the bank of albania has supplied and continues to supply the interbank market with the required amount of liquidity. as i have mentioned in my previous statements : there ’ s no such thing as a free lunch! meaning that emphasis should be put on the far - sighted perspective characterizing the bank of albania in the recent years. i do not refer here only to price stability, but also to the greatest challenge : banking system stability. the supervisory council of the bank of albania has constantly amended the regulatory basis creating incentives for more qualitative lending, while other decisions have aimed at providing more banking system transparency to the public, more efficient internal control and better management and governing structures. regardless of what has been stated above, the future is of prime importance. for many reasons that i have also mentioned in my previous statements, end - year 2008 and almost the entire year 2009 will in a global context be hard, full of challenges and we will be walking through unknown paths. overcoming this economic crisis requires time. its solution will materialize through the resetting of a number of internal and external economic balances, the re - arrangement of many supervisory institutions and the re - design of the regulatory framework on many financial market segments. put in this general setting, the idea that our small economy would resist this global economic tsunami with no consequences at all sounds as unrealistic. however, this issue is even more intricate. detecting the risks we may plausibly be faced with is not enough. i think our top priority is the design and implementation of preventive and remedial measures, which would reduce the materialization level of these risks. when i say “ our ”, i mean the state with its entirety of institutions and mechanisms. our main challenge – involving the central bank, the banking system, the government, other decision - making and executive authorities, business community and the public in general – is to maintain the aggregate demand, the production potentials and the financial resources in economy at unchanged levels. these are our top national priorities

, will be discussed at length during the conference. dear participants, the conference is not the only activity the museum has organised about numismatics, economic, monetary and financial history. we have also organised for the general public a cycle of lectures called “ museum nights ”, with lectures delivered by experts in the field of numismatics, history and economy. also, in cooperation with the institute of archaeology, a one - week seminar was organised on ancient coins, attended by the students of history, archaeology and cultural heritage. this year commemorates the pan - national year of skanderbeg, our national hero. the museum 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches has organised temporary exhibitions, displayed both inside and outside the museum, on the figure of skanderbeg, featured in the albanian currency. financial education has been given an important focus in the work of the museum. throughout the year, many students and young people have been involved in educational activities and projects, actively participating during the money week events, attending the lectures held at the museum, and using our educational publications and products. the museum will continue to work in these two aspects by supporting : i ) the scientific, economic, and monetary history of the country ; and ii ) the financial education of the new generations, with the support and cooperation with the most distinguished actors in these fields. as an institution that keeps and promotes an important part of the cultural heritage of the country, such as the currency, we are privileged and obliged to collaborate in order for the museum of the bank of albania not to be just an exposition of the rare collections, but a place where the public may find adequate and specialised literature and expertise to learn about the economic and monetary history, and become more financially educated. concluding, i would like to thank all the researchers, the speakers, the audience and our collaborators, who responded positively to our call for participation. with these words, i wish you all fruitful deliberations, i wish the conference all success and i wish all the guests an enjoyable stay in tirana. thank you! 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches