independence. with the ministry of finance we have already projects, such as the anticash, credit office, t - bills market and so on.. but a topic high on our and the agenda of the ministry of finance ’ s agenda should be the statistical framework. statistics by means of instat need to become timelier and need to be improved for the purposes of policies by the central bank as well as by the government. as discussed also these days, we should take all efforts in bridging the gap between bank of albania and the other central banks in europe. the central bank law served albania at the time it was laid down. now at the brink of the year 2006 we all agree that it needs amendments. governance at the central bank needs to reach the levels of governance at the central banks in more developed countries. we need a full independence of monetary policy on the one hand, and of fiscal and other government policy on the other hand. we need more professionalism. we need monetary policy conducted with a view to the future. we need to improve on accountability. we need to make our people contestable within and outside albania as it concerns the policies. i would like to see more open discussions where we discuss elaborately about our differences in opinions but at the end of the day also reach agreements that - as their sole purpose - benefit the albanian economy. our cooperation with international organizations like the international monetary fund will be maintained and open discussions about consistency issues with the new monetary strategy will carry on. cooperation with the european commission should become intensive in order to harmonize all central bank requirements in line with eu standards. in my view eu is one of the highest priorities on the agenda of albania, and the central bank will provide all cooperation in making its central bank law and all further rules and regulations according to eu - standards. next to this, the relationships with the bank for international settlements and the european central bank need to become closer. as a special point i want to highlight again the cooperation with the central banks in the region. we can more often share our views about monetary policy, supervision and financial stability. we can more often have common projects. one of the big projects i have in mind is the process of preparation for the accession to the european union. as you see, our agenda is quite full. probably not only in the short term but also for the medium term. but let me stop here. i am sure we will meet again in the future. but i conclude here by

, and the monetary and fiscal stimulus provided through the cut of the key interest rate, the injection of liquidity and the increase of public expenditure. among the factors that led to lower economic growth rate we can mention : the trade balance deficit sustainability ; harder times for the entrepreneurship due to lower foreign demand and contraction of banking sector lending ; and lower dynamics in household consumption. banking sector ’ s assets grew to all 886. 3 billion, posting an annual growth of 6. 3 percent relative to year - end 2008. the performance of the financial system ’ s financial resources, revenue and capital was affected by the international financial crisis and its impact on albania ’ s real economy. as far as the banking sector is concerned, the decline of public deposits terminated at the end of the first quarter, and their return to banks progressed at stable rates during the rest of 2009. however, the changes in the liquidity situation, the exchange rate devaluation and the difficulties encountered by the real sector of the economy gave rise to slower lending and deteriorated loan quality. as at end 2009, lending, including the accrued interests, accounted for about 50. 8 percent of total banking sector ’ s assets or as much as 40 percent of gdp. in the meantime, the ratio of non - performing loans to total loan portfolio rose to 10. 5 percent. the need to increase the reserve funds for coping with the credit risk from banks led to the decline of the banking sector ’ s financial result, which however ended positive for about all 3. 5 billion. business capitalization was adequate during 2009, as a result of lower high - risk bank investments, injection of new capital by the shareholders and the preservation of a net positive result. as at end 2009, capital adequacy ratio was 16. 2 percent. the public authorities took several measures in 2009 to support the financial system and the banking sector in particular. among these measures, i could mention the approval of the law which increased the insurance amount of public deposits, and the decisions of the supervisory council of the bank of albania to limit banks ’ exposure to foreign banking groups and to suspend the allocation of banks ’ profit in 2008 and 2009. along with these decisions, during 2009 a number of other bank of albania decisions taken since the last quarter of 2008 continued to be implemented. these decisions related to the establishment of more facilitating conditions as far as the provision of liquidity in the interbank market is concerned. the bank of albania decisions in january and october, which cut