gent sejko : the economy and banks, present and future challenges speech by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the round table on “ the economy and banks, present and future challenges ”, organised by the bank of albania and government of albania with the banking system, tirana, 16 september 2015. * * * your excellency prime minister, honoured representatives of international institutions, dear bank executives and representatives, this meeting seeks to once again draw the attention on non - performing loans, an issue that has been discussed extensively over the recent years. it aims at fostering the shared and concrete commitment to reduce the stock of non - performing loans, increase the financial intermediation by the banking sector and underpin albania ’ s economic growth. following, i would like to list some facts. the high level of non - performing loans has not affected the banking sector ’ s stability. liquidity and capitalisation indicators remain adequate and the financial performance has been positive and improving. but, the still - high percentage of non - performing loans has contributed to a higher perception of risk by banks ; in turn, they have adopted a more conservative approach to lending. our survey data point to tightened lending standards ; meanwhile, the lending volume, albeit positive, is still considered as low. the credit quality has improved during this year. the non - performing loans ratio, after peaking 25 %, fell to around 21 % in july 2015. we believe this improvement reflects the measures taken in the last 2 – 3 years, of which i would like to single out : a ) amendments to the law “ on income tax ” at the end of 2013, to facilitate the loan loss write off from the balance sheet ; b ) amendments to the code of civil procedures in september 2013, to improve the collateral execution process ; c ) entry into force of a regulation of the bank of albania, which renders obligatory the write off of loans classified by banks as “ loss ” for a period longer than 3 years ; d ) the work accomplished in cooperation with the commercial banks to restructure loans when the borrowers are exposed to more than one bank ; albeit the number of non - performing loans subject to the execution process has been significantly up, the improvement of the credit quality reflects mainly the loan loss write offs from banks ’ balance sheet. for the first half of 2015, its value amounted to around all 11 billion. the write off from bank ’ s balance sheet is both healthy for the

in real time the relevant institutions in case of discovered counterfeit currencies in circulation, in the territory of albania. another institutional commitment of the bank of albania is the training and experience exchanging with the other two institutions, which are signing parties to this cooperation agreement. dear ladies and gentlemen, this cooperation agreement demonstrates the continuing commitment of the bank of albania in further strengthening the quality and security of the banknotes in circulation. 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches national currency is one of the dimensions representing the albanian state, hence the bank of albania woks scrupulously to guarantee the impeccable integrity of our currency. in addition, the bank of albania through the signing of this agreement, fulfils one of the priorities for the implementation of the recommendations arising from the stabilisation and association committee, between albania and the european union for the protection of currencies from counterfeiting in compliance with the european standards. in this view, i would like to emphasize that the bank of albania remains committed in providing its contribution in the european integration process, as a modern central bank to be part of the european system of central banks ( escbs ). the regular exchange of information and periodic communications and meetings will improve the analysing of this phenomenon, enabling each party to fulfil its legal mandates in the field of prevention and protection of currency against counterfeiting. the new framework lays down a more structured and effective cooperation among institutions involved in response to developments in the field of currency protection against counterfeiting. the signing of this agreement will help the bank of albania to exercise its role for guaranteeing the financial system stability in albania and the quality of national currency in circulation. i take this opportunity, to thank the ministry of interior of albania, the prosecutor general's office and their representatives for their precious contribution in finalising this agreement and i iterate our readiness and commitment for a rather concrete collaboration in its framework. allow me to call on the public that everyone, alongside with the responsible institutions, may give their own contribution for safeguarding the confidence in our national currency, by checking the banknotes in circulation through the method : " feel, look and tilt ". this method has been part of our informing campaign undertaken in the framework of launching the new series of lek banknotes and continues to be part of our attention and daily work. a population that knows the security features of genuine banknotes is a contribution added to our institutional efforts to prevent the introduction of counterfeit