clarifying the operational cooperation protocols, in a series of central bank fields. this memorandum elevates the relations between our two countries to a new dimension. it confirms the will to elevate the level of cooperation and consolidate the ties between the two countries, providing for both institutions the necessary space for the intensification of mutual exchange of information and expertise in various fields of central banking, such as : supervision, financial stability, research, and financial education, and the regular dialogue at technical and political level. it is an important step for obtaining maximum benefits from the positive effects of integration and minimising the negative ones. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches lastly, i would like to underline that the bank of albania will make maximum efforts for the cooperation in the framework of this agreement to be concrete and have a direct impact. concluding, on behalf of the bank of albania, allow me to thank once again the central bank of the republic of turkey for the continuous fruitful cooperation ; i would also like to thank, in particular, governor cetinkaya, who has honoured us today with his presence at the ceremony of signing the common memorandum. thank you! 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

keeping demand at positive levels, in contrast to the trend of the preceding year. at the end of 2011 q1, budget deficit reached all 11. 8 billion, against the surplus of all 0. 7 billion recorded in the same quarter of the previous year. during this period, budget expenditure increased in nominal terms by 16. 8 % year - on - year, mainly due to increased current expenditures. maintaining similar growth rates over the rest of the quarters is expected to be translated into a higher contribution of expenditures to the aggregate demand, as compared to 2010. developments observed both on revenues and expenditures side have led to a drop of the primary balance to negative values during 2011 q1, after an apparent improvement in the last quarter of 2010. in 2010 q4, net position of the current account was estimated in a deficit of eur 373. 6 million or 16. 4 % of nominal gdp. in contrast to the first three quarters of the year, which posted a narrowing of the annual current - account deficit, in the fourth quarter of 2010, this deficit has expanded by 15. 1 % in annual terms. the main factor for the expansion of the current account deficit was the expansion of the trade deficit, albeit a high rise in exports of goods and services by 20. 7 % year - on - year. foreign demand continued to support economic growth in the first two months of 2011. good performance of exports contributed to a narrowing of the trade deficit by 5. 9 % y - o - y for this period. average ratio of covering imports with exports was 47. 3 % recording its highest historic peak. trade annual growth was 30. 4 % during the first two months of the year. exports value continued its accelerating upward trend, which had started in the first quarter of 2010, and expanded by 66 % in annual terms. the three - digit growth in the electric energy exports was a key contributor to this performance, while processed metal exports and textile re - exports continued to contribute positively to the value of annual export performance. in the post - global - crisis period, domestic economy is adapting to a new growth model, which requires significant structural changes. during this process of reallocating resources to most efficient sectors of the economy, as well as a more conservative behaviour by albanian households towards consumption, its potential output is expected to be lower for the mid - term horizon. according to the demand components analysis, improvement of growth rate in the last two quarters may have significantly narrowed the negative output gap, but