of finding the answers to the following questions : should we move to another monetary policy regime? what regime would be the most appropriate one? i believe you share the same opinion with me that finding the answers to the aforementioned questions is not an easy thing. this is not a plain mechanical action. in the last three years the bank of albania has been involved in an intensive process of assessment, analysis and conclusions for the future of monetary policy. and we have not been alone throughout this process. together with other albanian institutions – first and foremost with fiscal authorities, different european and regional central banks, other international financial institutions and academia, we have tried to identify the most suitable monetary policy regime to be adopted. during the last three years, we have been tossing ideas and scrupulously studying the details of a fully fledged inflation targeting regime. based on the current features and expected developments of the financial markets, we believe the inflation targeting regime provides the best policy choice for the future. a relatively long history of low inflation, constant soundness of the macroeconomic situation, stable and sound banking system, free floating exchange rate, a suitable institutional framework, fiscal consolidation are important factors that have convinced us on the potential success of inflation targeting regime. however, we are aware that there is still a lot to be done in this context, in particular as far as monetary transmission mechanism and financial market efficiency are concerned. furthermore, under a relatively rapid and considerable development of the albanian economy we are sure that the advantages a complete and independent monetary policy framework provides are larger in size than the disadvantages. therefore, the currency board has not been considered a possible option for the future. on the other hand, the current operational targets ( quantitative limits on net assets of the bank of albania and the banking system ), or the so - called performance criteria, which are part of today ’ s decision - making, might not be able to preserve their binding power after the expiration of the conditional agreement with the imf in 2008. these intermediate objectives may be replaced by a concrete and transparent objective such as the inflation rate, which provides a more direct communication of monetary policy decisions in economy in order to achieve the main target of the bank of albania. consequently, summarizing what has been previously said we have identified the inflation targeting regime as our best choice versus currency board and monetary targeting. another argument which supports our choice is that various internationally recognized experts have compared the current setup of monetary policy to an implicit inflation targeting framework. furthermore, we believe

the country is needed. make the market more lively, more competitive and more innovative. now the financial infrastructure is complete and it is up to you to use it more efficiently. it is the time to try to seek other balances in terms of foreign currency flows into the economy. remittances have been important for a long time. they were the largest foreign currency serum in the economy. however, we should be aware that other indicators, such as exports and foreign direct investments will be prior items in the total foreign currency flows in the future. this should be realised by everyone and based on this ground, let us work together for the future. dear participants, international initiatives are in the process. the berlin meeting was extremely important in this regard. there was broadly discussed and converged into the idea that there is room for more coordinated actions, and protectionism is not the answer to the crisis. the london meeting will make new steps in this regard. promoting investments for a cleverer future, setting new models for a new world, more structured and with renovated industry, will be in its focus. the crisis will have its own winners. winners will be those that will develop new policies, products, services and markets of a non - cyclic nature.