rates on new dinar loans ( weighted average values, p. a., in % ) government securities and eurobonds ( p. a., in % ) dinar securities, 5y dinar securities, 7y dinar securities, 10y eurobonds, usd, 5y eurobonds, usd, 7y eurobonds, usd, 10y eurobonds, eur, 10y household loans * corporate loans * key policy rate source : ministry of finance. source : nbs. * excluding revolving loans, current account overdrafts and credit card debt. strong credit growth at favourable conditions gives significant support to economic growth. favourable financial conditions in the domestic market are also evidenced by the lending interest rates, which in the dinar market fully mirrored the nbs ’ s monetary policy easing. as for the euroindexed loans, favourable terms of financing were supported by the lower interest rates in the european money market and, to a greater extent, also by the decline in serbia ’ s risk premium. what i want to emphasize particularly is that serbia ’ s risk premium is now among the lowest in the region and that its sharp fall was largely driven by domestic factors. in the past months, the risk premium dropped several times, to even below 50 basis points, while on 12 november it touched its lowest value of 34 basis points. i would further like to point out that serbia is only a step away from investment grade, characteristic of economies offering high security of investment, which not only confirms the economic progress and the results achieved, but also contributes to further improvement of financing and investment conditions in serbia. a decrease in interest rates, coupled with economic growth and positive trends in the labour market, gives rise to lending. the structure of lending is favourable in terms of support to sustainable economic growth, as evidenced by a significant rise in corporate investment loans and a rebound in household housing loans, with a mild deceleration in the growth of loans intended for consumption. while lending has recorded two - digit y - o - y growth rates, loans have a stable share in gdp, posing no risk to either price or financial stability. the reduction in the share of npls in total loans to 4. 7 % has created room for further credit growth and at the same time reinforced financial stability. chart 11 lending activity and gdp ( y - o - y rates, in % ) chart 12 npl share in total loans, gross principle ( in rsd bn ) (

ardian fullani : albania on the road to eu integration speech by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, at the launching ceremony of the needs analysis for the bank of albania project, tirana 17 april 2014. * * * dear mr. mersch, dear mr. hamza, dear mr. bajrami, your excellencies ambassadors, dear guests, the purpose of the programme we are launching today is to support the bank of albania in the process of approximation with the eu central banking rules, procedures and standards. this is another step forward in the increasingly closer cooperation between the bank of albania, the european central bank ( ecb ), and the eurosystem. i am delighted we have here today the governor of the central bank of kosovo and vice governor of the national bank of macedonia, as co - beneficiaries under this project. the project addresses 13 different fields of central banking, as identified by bank of albania and ecb experts, wherein the bank of albania needs to make progress to reach comparable benchmarks to an eu central bank. these fields relate to all the main functions of the bank of albania, such as monetary and financial stability, operations, financial infrastructure, transparency, accountability and human capital. for the first time, information technology is also incorporated in the project scope, hence reflecting the impact of technology ’ s evolution on central bank operational systems over the past decades. the cooperation programme will be implemented with the support of experts from 11 central banks in the eu, with the ecb being the overall coordinator. only two years ago, the bank of albania successfully concluded a twinning project with two of them : banca d ’ italia and banque de france. during the six - months of the project implementation period, central banks of the eurosystem will provide expertise through training, conferences, seminars, study visits and support to strengthen administrative capacities, and regular technical missions. this form of cooperation will aim at fostering the existing relations and building a broader network of cooperation between the bank of albania, central banks of the region and the eurosystem. the project is funded by the european commission, in the framework of support policies for the central banks of the western balkans, to promote macroeconomic and financial stability in the region. this form of technical assistance has been particularly successful in the past, creating strong institutional ties between the central banks of the eurosystem and those of our region. the twinning is based on a detailed plan of