gent sejko : bank of albania's achievements in 2022 and challenges for 2023 address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the end - of - year meeting with journalists, analysts and media representatives and the governor's award ceremony, tirana, 20 december 2022. * * * dear ladies and gentlemen, i feel honoured and privileged to welcome in the historical hall of the bank of albania, media representatives and talented students who are brave in competing for " governor's award for the best diploma theses ". in the last year event, i emphasised that we experienced an unusual 3 - year period, with the hope that 2022 would be different, more vivid and more optimistic. nevertheless, the end of 2022 is proving a really challenging one, mainly due to the huge shock on commodity prices of energy, oil and gas, in particular. the increased prices - mainly engendered from the outbreak of the russia's war in ukraine - has generated strong inflationary pressures worldwide, triggering a difficult time for consumption and economic growth globally. albania is facing the same challenges as well. in november, inflation stood at 7. 9 %, somewhat lower than in the previous month, though a high level which is the main threat to both the macroeconomic stability and to the sustainable and long - term growth of albania. in this context, i would like to point out that the latest forecasts at the bank of albania show that inflation is expected to progressively reduce during 2023, and return to target in the middle of 2024. in view of an increased inflationary pressures environment, we have embarked on a gradual process of monetary policy normalisation, aimed at timely returning inflation to the target and at a rather low costs to the economic activity. nevertheless, the sound balance sheets of households and enterprises, the further expanded albanian exports, and the decreased uncertainty in response to the expected reduced inflation will continue to feed the economic growth, in turn the latter is expected to remain in positive territory. the sound position of banking system is an added guarantee for the expansion of the economic activity. the healthy and liquid financial balance sheets of the banking sector guarantee that the latter will continue to funding the albanian households and enterprises, by supporting the expansion of both consumption and investments as well as meeting the temporary needs for liquidity. the coverage and transmission in an objective manner of news to public is an important factor in meeting our objectives for a stable economic and financial environment

ardian fullani : cooperation in the field of banking supervision in albania speech by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, on the occasion of the signing of the agreement on the field of banking supervision between the bank of albania and the banking and payments authority of kosova, prishtina, 11 july 2005. * * * i would like to take the opportunity from this occasion of the signing of the agreement on the banking supervision to say that i really feel excited for being here in prishtina today. it is my first visit since i took over the position as governor of the bank of albania and i would like to assure you that it will not be the last one. there are many reasons that pushed me to make this commitment today in front of you, and among them, i would like to focus on the necessity that our two institutions, the banking and payments authority of kosova and the bank of albania should raise the level of cooperation and reciprocal assistance. during this last period, i have personally attended meetings not only at the central banks of our region, but i have also met with high representatives of the interested international institutions. i have found everywhere an atmosphere of understanding and support, particularly with regard to the initiative for a greater cooperation between the region ’ s central banks. i would like to focus a bit more on this point, as i am of the opinion that it represents one of the relevant directions to which we should pay more attention in the future. the agreement that we signed today is a supporting evidence in this direction and based on the conversations i had with mr. svetchine, the unmic officials and with mr. kosumi, i can say that they have shown their goodwill and commitment as regards cooperation in this field. more specifically, we have established contacts with all the central banks of the region, up to the high levels of representation and i have realized that in every case they have expressed their readiness to further intensify the regional cooperation in this context. on the other hand, in the contacts with relevant international organizations such as the european commission, world bank, as well as the european central bank and many of the members of the european system of central banks, i have widely discussed this issue and i have found their total support in relation to the specific problems that characterize the economic and financial development of our region. at present, there exist many opportunities that we should use in a wise manner, since a collective action from our part