reflected the decrease in credit to the private sector and the lower financing needs of the public sector. credit to the private sector shrank 2. 4 % in march. besides the weak demand from businesses and households, the sluggish performance of credit reflects the banks ’ conservative lending policies. this approach is reflected not only in the interest rates on loans, but also in other lending standards applied by the banking system. in this regard, the bank of albania deems that the banking system in albania has room for and should adopt a more appropriate behaviour towards crediting the albanian economy. the country ’ s economic and financial reality, on - going monetary policy easing and our liquidity - injection operations, as well as the adaptation of our regulations to the market situation provide the premises for faster crediting to the economy. consisting in financial institutions licenced to facilitate movement of funds in the economy, the banking system should be more active in crediting, as the steady growth of the economy is a prerequisite for the sustainable growth of the banking system itself. * * * the supervisory council concluded that the incoming available information does not alter our baseline projections on the country ’ s economic activity. the economy is expected to record a gradual growth in the quarters ahead, driven by foreign demand and domestic private demand. the output gap will remain negative during 2014, though the gap is expected to narrow. the price performance will continue to be contained and inflation is expected to gradually approach the target. recent information, however, reinforces our judgement for subdued inflationary pressures in the period ahead, keeping the balance of risks on the downside. at the end of the discussions, the supervisory council decided to lower the key interest rate by 0. 25 percentage points, to 2. 50 %. this further easing of monetary conditions is expected to facilitate a faster return of inflation to the 3 % target of the bank of albania. bis central bankers ’ speeches

##tances provide income support to families and opportunities for un - skilled workers to travel, improve skills, earn foreign exchange and engage in self - employment afterwards. it is estimated that about 1. 3 mn sri lankan migrant workers are employed in different countries in various capacities. the banking sector, the government as well as the country as a whole benefit from worker remittances. the country uses remittances for payment of imports, goods and services while the banks invest remittances in foreign currency bonds issued by the government. that helps the government's foreign borrowing programme. more recently, the government resorted to issuing of foreign currency denominated bonds and attracted a significant part of worker remittances through banks. in addition, the banks also use worker remittances for their foreign currency trades and investments. if not for remittance inflows, sri lanka would have been severely affected by the increase in oil prices that raised the oil bill by three times in 2006. the enhanced remittance inflows also reduced pressure in the foreign exchange market and hence on the exchange rate. the geographical distribution of remittance inflows to sri lanka during 2005 has been as follows : • 57 % from middle eastern region • 18. 5 % from european union • 6. 5 % from other european countries • 6. 5 % from north america • 4. 5 % from far east - asian countries government policy successive governments in sri lanka have encouraged and promoted sri lankans to work abroad, both in skilled and un - skilled categories. the workers are permitted to open tax - free non - resident foreign currency ( nrfc ) accounts which facilitate the receipt and retention of remittances in foreign currencies. expatriates and workers are also allowed to have resident foreign currency ( rfc ) accounts after their return to sri lanka. taking the deposits in these accounts as collateral, low interest housing loans have been provided to the remitters and their families. the government has introduced “ sri lanka nation building bonds ” to enable sri lankan migrant workers and other expatriates to participate in the nation building programme. in addition to government, the sri lanka foreign employment bureau, association of licensed foreign employment agencies, the commercial banks, specialised banks, money changers and money transfer systems are key players in the remittance industry in sri lanka. the sri lanka foreign employment bureau continues to hold awareness programmes to educate remitters to channel funds through formal institutions and