for those borrowers unable to access other sources of financing. and while there are potential gains from a shift to market - based financing, whether or not they are realised will depend on how the financial system adapts. as part of its responsibility for identifying, monitoring and taking action to remove or reduce systemic risks, the fpc will monitor any implications of a shift to market - based finance for uk financial stability. there could also be implications for money markets. the smooth functioning of these markets is important for the bank to meet its objectives. any large - scale reallocation of cash around the financial system has the potential to impact how money markets function. hence, there is a risk of some disruption to money markets in the short - term, as new forms of digital money emerge. but in the long run, these markets should adapt to the introduction of new forms of digital money. i have talked so far about the impact of innovation in digital money in normal conditions. but, during a system wide stress, the availability of new forms of digital money could increase the proportion of banks ’ deposits that are withdrawn. private liquidity insurance is calibrated to help mitigate liquidity risks. and, in aggregate, given existing liquidity resources, the banking system should be able to withstand sudden deposit outflows. but there is significant uncertainty around how smoothly such a deposit outflow would unfold, emphasising the importance of banks ensuring they have access to the bank ’ s liquidity facilities. i hope from this you can get the sense of how important this potential innovation in digital money is, and why we must – both domestically and working with international partners – ensure that we understand and respond to the public interest issues that arise here, so that we can do our job of protecting stability, but also so that innovation can happen in a world where the public interest is well defined and protected. i am going to end – since time is up – by merely listing the other elements of public interest that i could, and probably should have covered, with respect to the innovation of digital currency, but which will have to wait for another day. i could have talked about monetary policy and controlling interest rates in a world of digital money. i could have talked about the public interest in competition in the financial system, about financial inclusion, and about data protection and privacy. i could have talked about the potential for digital money to speed up and reduce the transactions cost of international payments and transfers. and, finally, we cannot

throughout this development and in adopting the most effective instruments for addressing them. in this regard, let me emphasize that altogether : the albanian government, bank of albania and abb, have carried out a great work in realising certain fundamental structural reforms over the last decade. allow me to be specific. first, the plan of measures for reducing non - performing loans and improving the lending environment. the non - performing loans ratio peaked at almost 25 % credit portfolio in 2014, posing a major challenge for the development of the banking system and a serious obstacle to credit growth. to address this problem, in 2015, the bank of albania together with the albanian government and the aab adopted the national plan for the reduction of nonperforming. a set of important reforms have been implemented in the framework of this plan. these reforms enabled non - performing loans in banks'balance sheet reduce currently to 4. 64 %. also, these reforms paved the way for the rapid, stable and sound growth of bank credit. credit growth to private sector - stated in figures and referring to the same five - year horizon – has increased with a cumulative value of 40 %. only in the last year, credit to the private sector recoded an average growth of 8 %. in the first quarter of 2024, this growth has climbed close to 12 %. second, the consolidation of banking system, as an instrument for enhancing its competitiveness and reorganisation, was concluded successfully. this process, while taking place as dictated from the strategies and policies of european banking groups, presented many challenges. nevertheless, ultimately, it resulted in a more sound competition, an increased share of the domestic capital and improved financial intermediation. third, the enhancement of financial inclusion – though an ongoing process – has brought significant benefits to the albanian economy. as a result of joint implemented reforms in payment systems and the continuous investment to increase financial education, we have achieved a remarkable progress over the last years : around 171, 654 adult citizens or around 78 % of the adult population have access to bank accounts ( 2023 ) ; access to bank accounts via internet has increased by around 17 times ( 11, 108 accounts in 2008 - 1, 096, 402 accounts in 2023 ) ; currently ( 2023 ), transactions carried out via banks amount around 7. 7 million ( from only about 88. 000 in 2008 ), accounting all 2, 004, 180 or 88 % of gdp in 2023 ) ; the number of bank cards has almost triple