##d since 2008. currently, albanian citizens own 1, 433, 151 debit and credit cards of the prestigious visa and mastercard companies, which have implemented standards from the best at international level ; significant increase of poss in albanian businesses by around 6 times from 2008 ( about 300 poss ) to 2023 ( about 19 000 poss ) ; 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches currently, there are around 230 businesses equipped with the necessary infrastructure for e - commerce, from a total of 3 in 2013, when it was introduced for the first time this service from the banking system ; the number of bank card payments has increased 83 times since 2008. in 2023, the albanian citizens have carried out an average of 11 payments per capita, from 0. 3 payments per capita in 2008 via bank cards. as we reflect on the past years, despite the various domestic and external challenges, we can say that - despite the shocks on inflation and monetary tightening over the last few years, both in albania and in the euro area - the bank of albania and aab have continued to work for : drafting and approving many legal and regulatory acts in accordance with the european directives and best practices in the field of regulation and micro - and macro - prudential supervision, resolution, payments, statistics, etc. ; continuously modernizing the payment system, establishing and developing payment schemes, such as direct debit, as well as the increase in the use of electronic payment instruments, etc ; building cooperation bridges and improving communication with domestic and international institutions to help the financial sector in albania ; organising many events and programs to educate the public, promoting financial inclusion and reducing the use of cash in the economy. * * * dear colleagues, banks play a key role in the economic structure of albania. we have a common mission : bolstering a strong financial and economic environment, which continues to remain challenging. forward - looking and due to global changes and developments taking place, the bank of albania : remains committed to fulfilling its legal objectives, always implementing policies aimed at safeguarding the monetary and financial stability of albania, as a prerequisite for the sustainable and long - term development ; encourages the further increase in lending to albanian businesses and households, always requiring for compliance with the prudential requirements, but at the same time insisting on increased attention to specific sectors or vulnerable groups of the society ; has encouraged and will encourage the drafting of policies and the adoption of instruments that expand financial inclusion for those segments of

cancel each other out. domestic investment opportunities. as a consequence of high desired saving and the low prospective returns to domestic investment, the mature industrial economies as a group seek to run current account surpluses and thus to lend abroad. table 1. global current account balances, 1996 and 2003 ( billions of u. s. dollars ) countries industrial 46. 2 - 342. 3 united states japan - 120. 2 65. 4 - 530. 7 138. 2 euro area france germany italy spain 88. 5 20. 8 - 13. 4 39. 6 0. 4 24. 9 4. 5 55. 1 - 20. 7 - 23. 6 australia canada switzerland united kingdom 12. 5 - 15. 8 3. 4 21. 3 - 10. 9 25. 3 - 30. 4 17. 1 42. 2 - 30. 5 developing asia china hong kong korea taiwan thailand - 87. 5 - 40. 8 7. 2 - 2. 6 - 23. 1 10. 9 - 14. 4 148. 3 45. 9 11. 9 29. 3 latin america argentina brazil mexico - 39. 1 - 6. 8 - 23. 2 - 2. 5 3. 8 7. 4 - 8. 7 middle east and africa 5. 9 47. 8 e. europe and the former soviet union - 13. 5 5. 1 statistical discrepancy 41. 3 137. 2 other by " high desired saving " i mean a supply schedule for saving that is shifted far to the right. actual or realized saving depends on the equilibrium values of the real interest rate and other economic variables. although strong saving motives on the part of many industrial economies contribute to the global saving glut, the saving behavior of these countries does not explain much of the increase in desired global saving in the past decade. indeed, in a number of these countries - japan is one example household saving has declined recently. as we will see, a possibly more important source of the rise in the global supply of saving is the recent metamorphosis of the developing world from a net user to a net supplier of funds to international capital markets. table 1 provides a basis for a discussion of recent changes in global saving and financial flows by showing current account balances for different countries and regions, in billions of u. s. dollars, for the years 1996 ( just before the u. s. current account deficit began to balloon ) and 2003 ( the most recent year for which complete data are