inspections, and specialist expertise ; 2. establish strong relationships, organisational workflows and seniority of engagement between the central bank and the ecb. in working within the ssm, the central bank has sought to impact and influence the nature, approach and outcome of supervision to ensure that we have safe banks and increased financial stability at home and abroad. we have done this by helping extensively in the formative stages of the ssm ; guiding the development of the comprehensive assessment methodology ; facilitating the development of the ssm ’ s supervisory it system though the provision of prism to the ecb ; supporting significant numbers of secondees to the ecb ; and providing leadership on those areas where we have well - founded expertise. an example of this is sharon donnery ’ s – the central bank ’ s director of credit institutions supervision – appointment as chair of the ssm high level group on non - performing loans. ireland has learned the hard way to deal with the problem of npls and we can offer our insights in leading this work, and in our membership of numerous other working groups. the supervisory board the governance of the ssm rests on its governing council and its supervisory board. both are comprised of six ecb members and 19 national members. for the supervisory board, the national member is the deputy governor in charge of banking supervision or his equivalent in each of the 19 eurozone countries. the supervisory board is the highest body of the ecb where, in practice, substantial debates take place on supervisory decisions. proposals are brought to the board by the jsts and debated with a view to issue draft decisions. the governing council, as a rule, adopts these decisions, although it can object to any ; this exceptional circumstance would then trigger the convening of a mediation panel. this has not happened so far. the composition of the supervisory board brings unique strengths and challenges to its task. all its members are senior and experienced supervisors or central bankers or both. the aggregate wealth of knowledge and experience of the board is formidable, and further supported by the staff of the ecb and the national competent authorities. i can say, as ireland ’ s member of the supervisory board, that all decisions are approached with rigour and integrity and that the board brings thorough challenge to supervisory proposals tabled to its meeting. however, it is fair to say that the central bank would not accept from a regulated entity to have such a numerous board, and it proves indeed unwieldy at times. furthermore,

the private sector demand had a slow positive performance. consumption and investments were supported by crediting, but their upsurge is conditioned by hesitation to spend. following the revised budget, the fiscal behaviour during the last two months is characterised by lower spending pace and lower budget deficit increase. fiscal stimulus was present in the first quarter, while in the following months the fiscal policy was more contained, which is reflected in lower annual deficit increase. until august, public spending posted annual growth of 5. 2 % in annual terms, while revenues slowed down, growing only by 2. 2 %. budget deficit was all 30. 6 billion as at end - august. foreign demand continues to support albanians economic growth. exports ’ annual growth was 28. 8 % in july. on the other hand, imports continued their downturn trend that had bis central bankers ’ speeches started in the second quarter of the year, increasing by 4. 6 % in annual terms. export uptrend and import slowdown materialised in narrowed trade deficit in july, contracting by 6. 0 % yearon - year. however, the economy ’ s external position remains a structural weakness of the albanian economy, which reflects the need for higher competitiveness of our products in global markets and conditions the effectiveness of stimulating macroeconomic policies. indirect indicators analysis of private consumption reveals its moderate performance. consumption continues to suffer from perceived uncertainty by albanian families, leading to higher saving although aggregate revenues increased. private investment slowed down in this period, but it retained positive growth rates. this is supported by good performance of foreign direct investments, up by 38 % during the second quarter, and higher import of capital goods, which suggest higher private investment in the economy. nonetheless, this hike is conditioned by the fact that many businesses are operating below their production capacities, limiting their needs for new investments. monetary inflationary pressures remain controlled in the medium run. annual growth of money supply, m3, which resulted 11. 2 % in july, retained the average rates recorded last year. money demand was affected by a moderate upward private sector demand for funding. lending to private sector increased by 12. 5 % in july, triggered by the relatively stable increase of lending to private businesses and resurgence of lending to households. although the banking system has eased lending standards, the bank of albania deems that there is still room for further easing, especially as regards credit for private investments. developments in financial markets indicate downward risk premiums and liquidity. in the interbank market, trade volume expanded