more opportunities in lek crediting. in any case, the process of analysis, assessment, follow up and evidencing the credit quality should be pivotal to relevant structures in banks and should be carried out with maximum seriousness and commitment, conform to supervisory requirements. in this process, cooperation is needed with clients that are facing temporary difficulties. however, in the case of non - performing loans, it is necessary to undertake envisaged and timely actions to execute the guarantees and other forms of collateral, in order to recover maximum values. these actions are important while the bank of albania deems that the crediting activity of the banking sector will continue to face a challenging environment and targeted improvements for the credit quality will require more time to be realised. in conclusion, let me underline that, movement in the above - mentioned directions make a complex process which requires a two - way commitment and cooperation. it is with pleasure that i find that cooperation between us and the banking sector is seeing progress, both in field of supervision and monetary policy implementation. i believe this cooperation will grow among supervisors in the south eastern europe. on behalf of the bank of albania i would like to assure you that we will offer full cooperation in this regard. taking advantage of this opportunity, i would like to underscore that the bank of albania will always respect the public expectations and will fulfil, on time, its legal responsibilities in terms of maintaining the banking system and price stability. i thank you for your attention and wish you success! bis central bankers ’ speeches

imposing higher capital requirements on more aggressive banks. these measures were further supplemented in 2008, targeting more directly cases when borrowers had no income in foreign currency. another strategic move during this period was integration of banking supervision and financial stability with monetary policy decision - making. this action is as bold as it is innovative in establishing more optimum equilibriums between our function of drafting and implementing the monetary policy and that of maintaining the system ’ s financial stability. from that moment on, the financial stability report would not be merely another book in the library shelves of the bank of albania, but a valuable input to policy decisionmaking. therefore, information becomes more complete, including the assessment of banking activity risks performance. this would mean that our philosophy becomes more preventive and more farsighted, because the collected information is used to minimise future risks. bis central bankers ’ speeches we believe that these actions were the right therapy to buffer the effects of the global economic and financial crisis on the domestic banking sector and economy that appeared at the end of 2008. the shocks in the global financial system transmitted insecurity to the albanian public and, subsequently, huge amount of deposits were withdrawn from the banking system. additional need for liquidity as well as contraction of crediting during this period had a negative effect on the situation of financial resources, revenues and capital of the banking sector. under these circumstances, public authorities undertook a series of actions to support the banking sector, in particular the following : approval of a law which increased the insured amount of public deposits ; decisions of the supervisory council of the bank of albania to limit bank exposure against their foreign bank owner groups and suspend the distribution of dividend for banks during 2008 and 2009 ; implementation of a number of other decisions taken by the bank of albania in relation to the establishment of more easing conditions to provide liquidity in the inter - bank market ; and further improvement of the regulatory supervisory framework, aiming at maintaining banking activity stability. overall, during this stage, the bank of albania has played an essential role for the identification of short - term problems of the banking sector and their immediate addressing. this process was necessary to identify later longer - term implications on the banking activity performance and further alignment of the supervisory framework. banking activity performance over the past two years, has shown that these measures proved to be effective and the albanian banking system overcame with success the global crisis effects. the withdrawal of publics deposits from the banking sector was staunched at the end of 2009 q1 and, from