with the central bank. also, in the presence of the exchange rate depreciation, such policy has brought about easing monetary conditions, serving the promotion of the economic activity. however, the pass - through of easing monitoring policy on interest rates of banking products has been limited, due to liquidity constraints of the banking system and weakened demand of the public sector for funds. on the other hand, the banking system itself has been reserved with regards to lending, as a result of the increased risk in the economy and performance of loan portfolio quality. the alleviation of these problems would help to more fully transmit the monetary policy and enhance its effectiveness. the country ’ s external position continues to be characterized by a high and upward current account deficit. during the first three quarters of the year, the deficit was fully covered by capital and financial account inflows, resulting in increased foreign exchange reserves of the bank of albania. however, the inflows have been significantly favoured by privatization receipts and by public sector borrowing. both these items are limited in time and size, making necessary a steadier correction of the external position of our economy. this correction should aim at covering the trade deficit with stable funding resources, in the form of foreign direct investments and promoting export industries in branches that may constitute a competitive advantage for albania. however, short - term developments in foreign trade for october to november show a somewhat different performance compared with the first nine months of the year, testifying a modification of the trends observed earlier. thus, the country ’ s exports fell in annual average terms by about 7. 4 percent, recording a slowdown in comparison with the average decline by about 19 percent during the first nine months of the year. on the other hand, imports recorded an annual average decline of 17 % per cent over these two months, compared with the average annual decline of 7 percent recorded in 2009. these developments contain encouraging signs for sustainability of the balance of payments in the short run fiscal policy had an expansionary nature during most of the year, being materialized in a budget deficit of 6 percent of gdp. the increase of budget deficit reflects both the action of automatic stabilizer in the form of decreased revenues, and the intended countercyclical character of fiscal policy, through increased wages and capital expenditures. the country ’ s economic activity slowdown has dictated a slow pace in budget revenue growth, especially after the first quarter of the year. in late november, the annual growth of budget revenues was only 2 percent, almost

mark carney : canada works remarks by mr mark carney, governor of the bank of canada and chairman of the financial stability board, to the board of trade of metropolitan montreal / chambre de commerce du montreal metropolitain ( ccmm ), montreal, quebec, 21 may 2013. * * * introduction it is almost six years since the start of the global financial crisis, and its dynamics still dominate the economic outlook. in the united states, households are emerging from a painful period of deleveraging. their economic expansion continues at a modest pace, with gradually strengthening private demand partly offset by accelerated fiscal consolidation. despite recent progress, the u. s. economy has not yet achieved escape velocity. europe remains in recession, with economic activity constrained by fiscal austerity, low confidence and tight credit conditions. deep challenges persist in its financial system. without sustained and significant reforms, a decade of stagnation threatens. europe can draw lessons from japan on the dangers of half measures. it is now more than two decades since the japanese financial crisis erupted. to end its debilitating legacy, japan has just embarked on a bold policy experiment. its success or failure will have a major impact on the outlook over the coming years. amongst the g - 7, canada is unique. for us, the global financial crisis was an external rather than internal shock. when canadian policy - makers responded quickly and forcefully, our financial system channelled credit to where it was needed and our economy adjusted smartly. as painful as our recession was, canada suffered less. by the start of 2011, all of the output and all of the jobs lost during the recession had been recovered ( charts 1 and 2 ). a further 480, 000 jobs have been created since, with the vast majority of them full - time and in the private sector. nearly all the new jobs are in industries that pay above - average wages. relative to our peers, canada is working. why did we fare better? our outperformance reflects four critical advantages : • responsible fiscal policy, • sound monetary policy, • a resilient financial system, and • a monetary union that works. i will discuss these foundations of our prosperity in more detail, but i don ’ t intend to oversell them. these are the cornerstones of canada ’ s prosperity, but lasting growth depends on what is built on this foundation through longer - term investments in infrastructure, human capital, innovation and new markets. a monetary union that works canada ’