ardian fullani : overview of albania ’ s latest economic and financial developments speech by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, on the monetary policy decision - making of the bank of albania ’ s supervisory council, tirana, 27 february 2013. * * * today, on 27 february 2013, the supervisory council of the bank of albania reviewed and approved the monthly monetary policy report. based on the latest monetary and economic developments in albania, and following discussions on their future outlook, the supervisory council of the bank of albania decided to keep the key interest rate unchanged, at 3. 75 %. the supervisory council deems that the monetary conditions are adequate to comply with the medium - term inflation target, providing the necessary monetary stimulus to boost domestic demand. let me now proceed with an overview of the economic developments and key issues discussed at today ’ s meeting. * * * annual inflation was 2. 7 % in january. higher food prices were the major contributor, about 75 %, to inflation formation. in this regard, unprocessed foods, which recorded double - digit growth rates, contributed the most to this formation. the prices of the other consumer basket items fluctuated narrowly, maintaining their low contribution to inflation. in the macroeconomic aspect, inflation was formed by the presence of spare production capacities, while supply - side shocks were absent. the slow growth of production costs and low profit margin for businesses were reflected in low core and headline inflation rates. in addition, the stable exchange rate, anchored inflation expectations and low monetary expansion contributed to maintaining price stability. the albanian economy is estimated to have grown below its potential in 2012. recent economic and monetary data confirm, overall, our earlier assessment for the presence of a negative output gap. on the demand side, economic growth was driven mainly by net exports growth, whereas domestic demand is estimated to have provided low contribution. data on trade in goods during the fourth quarter show that exports increased 12 % and imports fell 9. 5 %, year on year. subsequently, the nominal trade deficit narrowed 20. 1 %, in annual terms, boosting aggregate demand in this quarter. on its side, domestic demand remains weak, due to consumers and businesses hesitation to consume and invest. lending standards continue to be tight as banks are more prudent about lending. budget expenditure fell about 0. 3 %, year on year, owing mainly to contracting capital expenditure. collected revenue was also downward, eventually reducing the budget deficit by 1. 2 % compared

ardian fullani : opening, extension and modernisation of the primary and secondary treasury bill market address by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, at a meeting with the minister of finance and representatives of all banks in albania, tirana, 8 april 2005. * * * honored ladies and gentlemen! first of all i have the pleasure to thank you for your willingness in finding the time to take part in this work meeting. i would also thank your technical staff for the devotion shown in dealing with this issue, which constitutes one of our priorities at the bank of albania. at the bank of albania conference on “ central banking in the time of integration ” i launched, interalia, the idea of the need for qualitative developments in the banking and financial system and this as closely connected with the need for further increasing the intermediation role of this system in the economy. it is understandable that the implementation of this idea would simultaneously require the giving of more possibilities to the banking system, so that this system carries out its role better and more actively. the topic we are discussing today is in this line. i am strongly convinced that the treatment of this issue did not appear as something unexpected, but it is a logical result of the positive developments taking place so far and the banking system awareness to be more active in its role for raising public confidence in the system. in the line of this logic, the raising of confidence would bring about its positive effects even on increasing their banking activity, which will be in compliance with their objective to be in the market with as much dignity as possible. in this discussion i will not focus on the technical aspect of cause explanation and process implementation, which i consider as exhausted by discussions made between respective technical staff, but i will focus on what we intend to reach and on the shortest and safest way to complete this process successfully. also, i would like to clarify that the individuals will continue to participate in the primary market of securities and this market will continue to be organized by the bank of albania. what we intend to reach through this process is : 1. the realization of a smooth transition process, at the smallest cost possible, in terms of maintaining the participation of individuals in the primary market. 2. the reduction of the time which is needed for the realization of treasury bill primary market auction. 3. the increasing possibilities to apply into practice the principle “ delivery versus payment ” for operations that will be performed in the secondary and retail treasury bill market.