, the fiscal easing relied also on the taxation policy, as a number of taxes were reduced directly or indirectly. budget expenditure surged 13. 3 %, mainly due to public investments during this period. fiscal revenues fell 0. 2 %, mainly due to contraction in the tax component. for the first five months of the year, budget deficit stood at all 38. 3 billion, about 1. 1 times higher than a year earlier, affecting, therefore, the increase in the public debt to gdp ratio, to 62. 4 %. the bank of albania continues to draw the attention on the need for fiscal measures, which would guarantee the long - term stability of the public debt, boost financial markets'confidence in our public finance, and cut long - term costs of debt service. this objective should be the main medium - term priority of public finances. data on the external sector of the economy reveal that the net foreign demand contributed positively to economic growth in the first quarter. the current account deficit narrowed, in annual terms, settling at 9. 8 % of gdp during this period. foreign trade data for april point to further narrowing of the annual trade deficit by about 5. 3 % in annual terms, thanks to the bis central bankers ’ speeches rising exports. meanwhile, for the first time since september 2012, total imports increased about 3. 6 % in this month. as pointed out earlier, the current account deficit constitutes a structural deficiency of the albanian economy. its adjustment would mitigate one of the potential sources of risks to the albanian economy and financial markets, and broaden the space for implementing stimulating macroeconomic policies in the future. monetary indicators were in line with the real - economy developments and our analysis reveals that the monetary inflation pressures are weak. annual increase of money supply accelerated in april, reversing the deceleration trend that had started in july of last year. the broad money aggregate, m3, picked up 5. 2 % from 4. 6 % in march, mainly reflecting the higher demand for funding by the public sector. by contrast, the private sector's weak demand is reflected in the sluggish credit performance. lending to the economy slowed down further in april, marking only 0. 9 % annual growth. besides the weak demand, lending deteriorated also due to banks ’ prudence in lending, materialised in relatively tight standards. this phenomenon is regionally dispersed and is dictated, to a large extent, by the developments in the euro area's financial markets. the main feature

) : 60 – 77 - 8social goals can support economic goals this leads me to my second challenge. we need to reject the idea that there is an inevitable trade - off between social and economic goals. human well - being is needed for economic growth, and the reverse is often true as well. there ’ s growing evidence that lower levels of inequality may make the economy less vulnerable to financial crises or periods of stagnation. 14 quebec ’ s public daycare system is a prominent example of a policy that creates a virtuous circle between social and economic goals : it helped families and also increased women ’ s participation in the labour force. in fact, it helped transform quebec from a province with one of the lowest participation rates among primeage women to a national leader in this regard. 15 there are other examples, including the public policy response to the pandemic. wage subsidies are helping maintain relationships between workers and employers, which in turn protects future growth. canada could also be made more resilient through policies that encourage equity rather than debt financing as a way to foster business creation and growth and support vibrant communities. the public sector can ’ t do it alone my third challenge to conventional wisdom is the realization that this is not only a public sector problem to solve. we need private sector investment in growthenhancing initiatives and smart incentives to go along with that. investment in green technology is just one example of how the private sector can pitch in to support longer term growth. canada ’ s oil and gas sector has shown tremendous capacity to innovate in the face of challenges and is making great strides in developing new technologies to reduce emissions. think of investments in cogeneration technologies — an innovation that increases efficiency and competitiveness while also reducing carbon footprints. 16 and financial firms are working to develop the market for green and transition bonds to increase financing options for climate - related projects. we ’ ve also seen some good examples of stakeholder capitalism in response to the pandemic as the private sector found ways to support growth. many financial institutions stepped up to allow deferrals in loan and mortgage payments. this 14 among others, see p. pascal, “ historical patterns of inequality and productivity around financial crises, ” federal reserve bank of san francisco working paper no. 2017 - 23 ( march 2020 ) ; and a. g. berg and j. d. ostry, “ inequality and unsustainable growth : two sides of the same coin? ” international monetary fund staff