economy to equilibrium and of inflation to target, in the medium - term horizon. in our view, the indicators of economic activity and inflation are performing in the right direction ; however, the sustainable accomplishment of targets will need time and will imply keeping low interest rates for some quarters ahead. overall, the main indicators in banking system activity improved. liquidity, profitability and capitalisation indicators are at good levels, while the ratio of non - performing loans has trended down. the bank of albania has continued to work for the regulation and prudent supervision of the banking system, pursuant to the legal obligations, as well as to sustain its steady development. also, we have cooperated with : ( i ) other public agencies, to improve the legal framework, align regulatory practices, and identify measures for withstanding systemic shocks ; ( ii ) international financial institutions, to develop loan restructuring programmes ; and, bis central bankers ’ speeches ( iii ) foreign regulatory institutions and parent banking groups operating in albania, to exchange information. i would like to reiterate that the banking system is solid, liquid and well capitalised for conducting its intermediary function. however, credit growth continues to appear sluggish, due to tight bank lending policies. maintaining and strengthening banking system soundness is to everyone ’ s benefit, as this is the only system that, with its funds, may sustain long - term economic growth. lending is expected to improve slightly during 2015. the bank of albania, however, expects an increasingly active role of the banking system in lending and will also take all the needed measures to encourage it. at the conclusion of discussions, the bank of albania shares the view that economic policies are performing overall in the right direction. in compliance with its legal duties, and pursuant to its institutional commitments in the framework of the arrangement, the bank of albania will continue to work on : • maintaining price stability, in accordance with its 3. 0 % inflation target. the bank of albania will continue to implement its monetary policy in accordance with the targeted inflation regime and free - floating exchange rate regime. the monetary policy will remain on the easing side, aiming at enhancing transparency of communication and its effectiveness. • maintaining adequate foreign currency reserves. • supporting banking system stability, by exercising its duties as the regulator and supervisor of the banking system. special attention, in this regard, will be given to addressing factors determining non - performing loans. for this purpose, the bank of albania will cooperate with the banking industry and other national authorities

- seated attitudes to saving, which remain very different across the regions of the world. as incomes in asia continue to rise, saving rates will probably decline over time, but only gradually. meanwhile, aggregate saving rates in america and europe will have to rise over time, given the extent to which financial obligations have grown relative to likely future income, particularly on the public side. the key question is whether these two trends, in opposite directions, will occur at the same pace, or not. good policies can certainly help the world get to a better solution than might otherwise occur. but even with good policies, it is likely to be a slow grind out of the current difficulties for some countries. we probably have to accept that global growth was unsustainably fast in the few years prior to the crisis, that too much capacity of certain types was built up in the wrong places, that spending in some countries ran too far ahead of permanent income and that a period of adjustment and structural change cannot be avoided, even under ideal policy settings. if that is so, then, in all countries, an emphasis on accepting the need for adjustment generally – not just in exchange rates but in economic policies and structures across the board – is key. conclusion economies are not static machines. they are a complex and dynamic combination of actors, all continually seeking to adapt to changing conditions. that is one reason that economic outcomes are very hard to predict, and why i am circumspect about predicting “ australia to 2020 ”. looking to the long run, we probably can make a few very general observations, but not much more. real income per head has generally been on an upward trend in industrial economies for the past 250 years, with occasional setbacks. most likely that will continue ( albeit that some major countries will take some time to recover their income levels of three years ago ). as a broad observation, and definitely not as a precise forecast, we might expect that a decade from now australia ’ s per capita gdp will probably be roughly 15 per cent higher in real terms than it is now, give or take a few percentage points. the economic policy arguments, by the way, will all be about what policies might gain or lose those few percentage points. in 2020, there will probably be, at a rough guess, an extra couple of million people working, compared with today ’ s 11. 3 million. but exactly how all those people working will earn their living and go about their work is considerably less predictable.