but – above all – at the introduction of new and motivated actors in the domestic market and increase of competition in this market. albania has benefited a more competitive, efficient and safer banking sector. last, the bank of albania has worked for the adoption of the best practices in the banking regulation and supervision field, aiming at the convergence with the euro area standards and focusing on the analyses and address of large risks. in reflection of this work, the bank of albania is already a member of the supervisory colleges of central banks. we have also established and approved a complete and functional framework on resolution of banks, thus being the first amid regional countries. these efforts have given their fruits. the albanian banking sector bore a considerable part of the financial bill of the pandemic and provided a continuous financial support to enterprises and households. in addition, the banking system carried out its function without jeopardising the main parameters of its financial soundness : the level of liquidity ; profitability and capitalisation. nowadays, the public considers our banking system a safe destination to hold their savings ; enterprises find a source of funds, services and consultancy, while the economy finds a promoter of development and absorber of shocks. in parallel with these main directions, the bank of albania has worked and has achieved successful results in other fields as well, among which i find it appropriate to highlight : the payment system, which is already operating within a legal and regulatory framework in full compliance with the eu standards and with a payment infrastructure in an ongoing modernisation process. here, i mention the approval of the new law on the payment system, which transposes the relevant directive of the european union and paves the way for increasing the number of actors and strengthening the market effectiveness. also, in 2 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches january 2022, the bank of albania has started operating the complete infrastructure for the processing and settlement of euro denominated payments within albania. this development will result in lower costs and considerable reduction of the time for the realisation of payments, with a considerable benefit to both the albanian enterprises and households. successful management of the foreign exchange reserves of albania, where i would emphasise that the adoption of contemporary methods on evaluating their adequacy and administration, has driven to the increase of this reserves – from eur 2. 2 million in 2014 to almost eur 5 million in 2021, coupled with the maintaining of its soundness in terms of liquidity and safety. in addition, i would like to

, which are experiencing current deficit deepening and strong pressures on their currencies. this contagion mechanism, through which the crisis ignited in most advanced economies of the world is spreading worldwide, has made albanian economy feel the effects. even though the financial system was not influenced by the world financial crisis, second - round effects are being reflected and will be reflected even in the future. the bank of albania has assessed that, driven also by a large global market “ drought ”, 2008 has recorded reduced foreign currency inflows and increased current deficit. during two last months a moderate foreign exchange rate depreciation was noted. however, we should take into account that albania is in a more favourable position than other economies of the central and eastern europe. our advantage stands on the fact that unlike other countries of the region, we have not financed our current and trade deficits with shortterm foreign capital inflows, otherwise referred to as “ hot money ”. the bank of albania has prohibited lending to the economy with the so - called “ exotic currency ”, which once upon a time represented funds of a very low cost, ready to penetrate even to our economy. let me remind you that many developing economies have fallen into the trap of those funds, suffering now gravely from their flight. furthermore, we have adopted a flexible exchange rate, unlike fixed or managed exchange rates. the bank of albania has assessed that current developments, particularly those of our main partners, will bring about tendencies which are generally different from those with which we have been working over last ten years. actually, the euro area is in crisis. economic growth is negative ; the euro is loosing terrain versus the dollar ; unemployment is increasing ; and prices are going down. important industries, such as the financial industry or that of machineries are undergoing the worst situation over 50 recent years and governments of these countries are obliged to approve aid packages, to guarantee their survival. according to the most optimistic assessment, this situation will not be improved, at least until the end of this year. therefore, i emphasise that exporters should adopt new philosophies. they should be innovators, increase products and discover new markets, beyond the traditional ones, which have currently been hit from the economic and financial crisis. global developments impose adoption of new approaches. the country ’ s economic and financial development stage and passing into the group of the developing countries have created conditions for businesses in general and export industries in particular to adopt new standards in business