still supported a solid annual credit growth of around 35 percent. the financial result of the banking sector for 2008 was positive but lower than the previous year due to a slowdown in profit - making activities. the exchange rate of the domestic currency was stable over the year and with depreciating tendencies versus the euro and the american dollar over the first quarter. in relation to expected domestic developments for 2009, we expect economy to face greater challenges. economic growth will be positive, but almost half of what was in 2008. the planned fiscal stimulus will be harder to reach, due to potentially higher difficulties in realizing revenues and in providing other sources for financing the expenditures. hence, there might be a need to prioritize fiscal expenditures over the year. financial intermediation of the banking sector, to the public and the private sector, could be lower and potentially with higher cost, due to supply and demand factors. due to tighter financing conditions, businesses and households are expected to undergo a painful but necessary adjustment process in the short term. this might prove to be beneficial in terms of efficiency gain in the medium term. inflation may temporarily go under the corridor of the bank of albania, but is expected to be within the corridor for most of the year. monetary policy will make sure that proper incentives to hold local currency denominated assets are maintained and that inflation expectations are kept anchored at the target of bank of albania. this is expected to also be important in maintaining adequate financial intermediation capacity in the medium term. the profitability of the banking sector is expected to be lower this year, due to lower volume of the profitmaking activities ( lower credit supply / demand ), potentially higher financing costs and increasing provisions for non - performing loans. but this is not expected to have a substantial effect on capital adequacy and liquidity indicators. more than sufficient capitalization and liquidity parameter of the banking activity will protect the stability of the banking sector and of the financial system going forward. while the international crisis is impacting every country, the magnitude of the impact will depend on length of the international crisis and the state of that country ’ s economy. expectations for the recovery of the world economy, somewhere between end of this year – beginning of next year, if materialized, will remove the uncertainty and the psychological boost will likely support the sense of earlier and stronger economic benefits. in spite of the difficulties ahead, it is deemed that the position of the albanian economy and of our financial system is balanced and capable of

plan on the financial sector are high and it will have a major impact on the innovative ecosystems of the french and european financial sectors. that is why the banque de france and the acprwill be particularly attentive, in the coming weeks and months, to your feedback, suggestions and 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches questions on this “ digital finance package ", which is closely in line with the rationale of the ecosystem that i have just outlined. in other words, we have the opportunity to demonstrate today that the discussions held in recent years between the banque de france, the different players in the innovative financial ecosystem and other supervisory authorities, the relationships of trust established between us, the complementary expertise, the shared experiments and knowledge, have a concrete and tangible effect : that of further strengthening the dynamics of an ecosystem that is destined to count in the future of the european financial sector. * thank you for your attention. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches