gent sejko : climate, macroeconomy, and finance - navigating risks and driving impacts welcome address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, to the highlevel forum 2023 on " climate, macroeconomy, and finance : navigating risks and driving impacts ", tirana, 8 november 2023. * * * dear mr salinas, dear panellists and guests, good morning! it is a great pleasure to welcome you to bank of albania's premises for this high - level forum on : " climate, macroeconomy and finance : navigating risks and driving impacts ", a joint initiative with the world bank. at the beginning of my greeting, allow me to extend our profound appreciation to the world bank for its continuous support in establishing and enhancing our partnership from some years now, and particularly in progressing towards green finance. i would like also to thank all our distinguished guests, representatives of the most important national and international institutions, who have joined us in this crucial effort. your presence today shows the importance of the topics we are going to address and the grand challenges that lie ahead. today, we are going to discuss on a comprehensive challenge that goes beyond political boundaries, industries and times : the challenge of climate change. needless to say, its impact affects every aspect of our lives, from the food we eat to the air we breathe. the effects of climate change cast a shadow over our ambitions for development, even though albania's contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is very limited. climate change is no longer a distant threat. on the contrary, it is our present reality that we experience every day, through unpredictable weather events, increased and intensified probabilities of natural disasters, and even enhanced negative impacts on agriculture, tourism and infrastructure. as a result, climate change exerts considerable pressures on the stability of our financial systems as well. it is more than clear that our financial sector cannot function in isolation from these challenges. as we strive to make our activities sustainable and safeguard financial stability, we must not and cannot neglect the presence of risks from climate change. the banking sector, as a cornerstone of our economy, should increasingly enhance its resilience against traditional financial turmoil, as well as against the unpredictable force of climate phenomena. sustainable finances are not a choice, but an obligation. our banking system - well capitalised, profitable and liquid - has shown extraordinary resilient in recent years,

12. 89 %, in september. meanwhile, deposit growth was channelled mostly into investments in securities and less into lending. certainly, the appreciation of the exchange rate and the lost loans write off provided a statistical effect on the indicators of credit performance. also, credit in the national currency continued to prevail over the foreign currency credit. nonetheless, the overall level of credit to the economy is still far from its potential and the opportunities for expanding lending abound. i understand that this phenomenon entails a number of problems arising from sluggish demand as well as from supply, which is conditioned by tight credit standards. nonetheless, beyond 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches structural factors, i reckon that we should react so as to prevent a stagnant credit situation in the economy. for an economy that needs to develop rapidly, in order to converge with european union levels, the situation should be changed and the levels of crediting should be higher, though still showing continual prudence concerning credit health. moreover, it is in your financial interest to address this phenomenon with determination, in order to put it on track for a sustainable solution. the financial resources you have and the considerable space that exists for financing the economy show that financial efficiency in the banking activity could improve significantly. the financial infrastructure of the banking sector was enhanced further in 2018. the bank of albania and the national payment system committee have implemented the national strategy for enhancing the small value payment market and increasing the financial inclusion of the population. the first results are promising and they will be followed by other steps by the bank of albania and the banking sector, aimed at achieving a quantitative objective, that is, to see the number of bank account holders doubled by 2022. the financial inclusion of the population is one of the most important current priorities. in 2018, the bank of albania and the banking sector paid particular attention to financial inclusion and financial education. it is a proven fact now that improvement in financial inclusion contributes to the improvement of the welfare of the population in a harmonised way. in this regard, we have designed and implemented, among others, a series of educational projects that are adapted to various segments of the population. financial education, tailored publications with information on bank products and services, as well as developments in the payment infrastructure and payment services are concrete steps for providing more opportunities for access to finance by all segments of the population. * * * dear representatives of the banking sector, the outlook for albania ’ s development remains positive. this means