information on the activity and results of the internal audit department is attached to the annual report 2016. also, the financial statements and the opinion of the external independent auditor were an integral part of the annual report, in compliance with the international audit standards. the approval of the financial statements in compliance with the international financial reporting standards ( ifrs standards ) was among the most important priorities of the bank of albania for 2015. the implementation of this priority over 2016 met the legal requirements and observed the internal and external recommendations. transparent communication is an important pillar in bank of albania ’ s activity for both fulfilling the responsibility for maximum transparency about decision - making and its effects, and raising public confidence in the central bank. following are some statistics : our official website is a place where the public may find complete and updated information on the bank of albania, as well as on the economy and finances in albania. during 2016, the website had about 720 000 visitors, who viewed our page around 2. 100. 000 times and browsed in total about 4. 310. 000 items. also, the museum of the bank of albania was visited by 1900 visitors ; while 1180 textbooks “ personal finance in your hands ”, were distributed in eight high schools. since the beginning of 2016, in compliance with article 7 of the law no. 119 / 2014 “ on the right of access to information ”, the bank of albania has compiled and published the transparency program on its website. in this regard, we have assigned a coordinator and answered 65 official requests and 120 requests delivered via electronic mail. for nearly a decade now, the bank of albania has been committed to expanding and deepening financial literacy of the public, focusing on the younger generation. 7 / 8 bis central bankers'speeches although, the financial education of the public is not a legal obligation of the bank of albania, we are confident on the positive return of this investment. two are the main goals of the programmes, activities and special educational publications prepared by the bank of albania : introducing the central bank, its functions and role to the public ; and cultivating and strengthening the financial literacy in society. in our view, financial literacy has become a necessity, taking into consideration not only the level of economic, banking and technological development, but also the importance and significance of information in today ’ s global setting. * * * honourable chair, honourable members of the committee, in conclusion, i would like to highlight that, over 2016, the bank of albania has showed initiative and devotion in

the apriljune quarter of 2024 rose by 2. 9 percent on an annualized quarter - on - quarter basis, after having hovered for some time at a somewhat low level : the gdp for the july - september quarter of 2023 decreased by 4. 3 percent, that for the october - december quarter rose by 0. 2 percent, and that for the january - march quarter of 2024 decreased by 2. 4 percent ( chart 3 ). in particular, private consumption, which had continued to record negative growth from the april - june quarter of 2023, grew at a relatively high rate. although this can be mainly explained by the rebound from the previous quarter, it suggests that downward pressure on real consumption from the decline in real wages has finally started to wane. since the growth rate for real wages at present is heading toward an increasing trend, i personally think that private consumption is likely to be on a clearer expanding trend ( chart 4 ). b. price developments turning to japan's price developments, japan faced typical cost - push inflation in the postpandemic period, due to higher imported goods prices brought about by the impact of global inflation. this was especially evident in the fact that prices of energy and food accounted for a sizable contribution to rises in consumer prices. however, the rate of increase in imported goods prices has become moderate, in line with subsiding global inflation, and the pace of increase in the prices of energy and food has started to regain stability. as a result, the yearon - year rate of increase in the consumer price index ( cpi ) for all items excluding fresh food has been in the range of 2. 5 - 3. 0 percent and that for all items excluding fresh food and energy has been at around 2 percent ( chart 5 ). while the impact of higher imported goods prices has started to diminish, it is services prices that have been steadily rising as a trend. this uptrend is noteworthy, given that services prices tended to decline or barely rise from the 1990s in japan. simply put, the reason why services prices did not rise in japan until recently was that wages, which account for a large share of costs for services, did not rise. the recent rise in services prices is mainly attributable to a rise in the price of dining - out due to higher imported food prices. nevertheless, the large wage increases observed for the first time in more than three decades are also being gradually reflected in services prices. 1