gent sejko : financial inclusion, governance, tackling nonperforming loans, and albania ’ s milestones for 2020 address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the meeting organised by the albanian association of banks, tirana, 12 february 2020. * * * dear ladies and gentlemen, it is always a pleasure for me to attend meetings and round tables with representatives of banks operating in albania. they are also an excellent opportunity to discuss and harmonise our efforts for a stable deepening and expansion of the financial market, as one of the core pillars of the economy and the main driver for sustaining development and enhancing the public ’ s welfare. i would like, in my brief address, to bring to your attention some highlights of 2019, regarding the contribution of the banking and financial systems, as well as some milestones for 2020. let me first focus on the overall state of affairs in the albanian economy. the devastating earthquake that hit albania on 26 november 2019 was a major event with a strong impact for 2019, on all the sectors of economy and the whole society. it was an unexpected shock giving rise to economic and psychological consequences in the affected areas and beyond. on the other hand, it was a difficult test, and i may say that all banks passed it successfully, in terms of continuity of financial market ’ s critical functions. in such a disastrous situation, it was very important that people could perceive the security, at least in the financial aspect, regarding their deposits with banks and continuous access to their funds to meet their basic needs. under these circumstances, not only did all banks generously contribute to recovering from earthquake consequences, but they also supported their clients in alleviating their pain and offering adequate solution, while ensuring continued operations and activities. beyond this event, overall, the albanian economy in 2019 performed in positive terms. its growth pace continued to trend upward, employment increased, internal and external balances strengthened, and main indicators of the banking sector ’ s soundness have been improving. all the above reasons boost the optimism on the outlook of economic growth in the medium - term horizon. among others, albania has reached an important milestone on its path to development and integration : the expected opening of accession negotiations with the european union. these negotiations should be definitely considered as an important development anchor and an additional guarantee for both domestic and foreign investors. year 2019, as i stated above, affirmed the stability of the albanian banking system. all structural changes that started

change from previous recessions, when men typically suffered greater job losses than women. in february 2020, the unemployment rate for women was slightly lower than for men, but by april it had risen to 16. 1 percent, compared to 13. 6 percent for men. that difference continued only until september, but this statistic does not reveal the fact that many women were leaving the workforce, and therefore not counted in unemployment. their labor force participation fell more than the participation rate for men and at last count, there were two million fewer women in the labor force than before the pandemic. 1 the difference in employment for men and women held true across some minority groups. 2 reasons why the pandemic affected women differently so, what led to this decline in women ’ s employment and what specific factors contributed to women ’ s employment and their choice to leave the labor force? and why has this time been different than other points in our history, resulting in larger declines for women relative to men? in contrast to previous crises, covid - 19 had a larger impact on occupations with higher numbers of female workers. women are disproportionately represented in high - contact jobs with less flexible work conditions, including lodging, food service, eldercare, and childcare, which were among the sectors most affected by the crisis. most of these jobs cannot be performed from home or have less flexibility in the timing of when they can be performed. roughly a quarter of women worked in these jobs, compared with around 10 percent of men. 3 the statistics cover adults 20 years and older, with seasonal adjustments, and come from the current and historical tables a - 1, a - 2, and a - 3 of the bls employment situation report. see u. s. bureau of labor statistics, “ the employment situation — september 2021, ” news release, october 8, 2021, https : / / www. bls. gov / news. release / empsit. nr0. htm. labor force participation rates declined by 6. 8 percent for hispanic women and 4. 2 percent for black women between february 2020 and september 2021. statistics come from current and historical tables a - 1, a - 2, and a - 3 of the bls employment situation report. see u. s. bureau of labor statistics, “ the employment situation — september 2021. ” stefania albanesi and jiyeon kim, “ effects of the covid - 19 recession on the us labor market