the prolonging of this program or the one that says that the government ’ s responsibilities should increase, by the imf leaving now? presently there are no camps ; actually there has not been any camp ever. personally i believe that the imf is the best certifier of our national balances and statistics and the guarantor of our macroeconomic policies ; unquestionably, the best guarantor to associate albania towards european membership.

by side. while literacy may turn a poor man into a rich man, illiteracy, on the other hand, may conduct a rich man into misery. finances are dangerous when you are not financially literate enough. that is why i consider this conference as highly important. the bank of albania has devoted constant attention to financial education. our education agenda is integral and comprehensive both in terms of geography and age groups, full of interactive elements and modern communication methodology. furthermore, i would like to refer to some of the elements that constitute the philosophical grounds of our educational work. bis central bankers ’ speeches first, i would like to recall that financial welfare is inextricably related with the country ’ s economic progress. it has been already proven that individual ’ s welfare is proportionate to economic activity and prices of financial assets. the cause - effect relation is true on both directions. our economy and financial institutions are strong when revenues and wealth grow. financially healthy individuals are inclined to increase their consumption and, therefore, boost their spending, consequently pushing the economy forward. moreover, financially successful people boost lending potential by channelling their savings into deposits. therefore, they are in a position to have access in crediting by the banking system, giving life to new businesses which, in turn, provide higher employment and welfare. to most of the people, having a job and a salary or estate is essential to personal financial welfare. however, the fact that you may have a job, or a salary does not imply that you automatically have the capacity to make wise decisions on effective money utilisation. this is the point where our relation with financial education is subjected to the test of the truth. is this test passed? the sub - standard credit crisis in the us revealed that individuals in most cases did not manage to pass this test. consequently, the debt load on individuals grew even heavier, while access to crediting became tighter, resulting in a big risk for their financial future. a similar analogy may be drawn for lending in foreign currency in some eastern european countries. secondly, financial education should be seen as a public good that brings about positive externalities to the society. it not only increases individuals ’ financial welfare, but also affects directly economic policy efficiency undertaken by relevant authorities. the more - educated the public, the higher economic policy efficiency is. maintaining inflation and economic activity under control is almost impossible in a society ailing from financial illiteracy. macro - economic balances are achieved and maintained through monetary and fiscal