time and again that we will satisfy all the financial market liquidity needs, but on the other hand we require from you to be more independent from your headquarters, in the policies you apply with relation to domestic financial market, in terms of investments portfolio. you are licensed and operating in albania, therefore, you have under your management the albanian citizens ’ savings and the essential task of every banking system is the financial intermediation in the country they are operating. the bank of albania will insist for the fastest implementation of repurchase agreements in the transactions you carry out in the interbank market. the bank of albania makes use of a systematic approach in its dealing with and operating in the interbank market, which necessarily requires an efficient liquidity re - allocation among banks. such a thing is carried out by applying repurchase agreement, thus preventing credit risk. in the meantime, the bank of albania is completing the regulation on dvp ( delivery versus payment ), which will simultaneously bring about even the settlement risk prevention. this constitutes another step in terms of financial infrastructure improvement for an efficient banking market. • • 4. the bank of albania is also looking into some other measures to better precede the optimal functioning of the banking system. under more concrete terms, the bank of albania will require that the dividends materialised over 2008 be destined to increase the capital of banks you manage. i have constantly pointed out that our system is well - capitalised, but however under current conditions i regard its further increase as a prudential measure. 5. one of the strategic goals for the central bank ’ s objectives is the strengthening of its institutional independence and credibility, being a central and accountable institution for the mission entitled by law. one of the factors impacting directly and indirectly on the strengthening of this independence is also the fulfilment and improvement of the bank of albania ’ s legal framework in line with contemporary standards. to this end, we are working under three main directions : drafting the law “ on payment system in the republic of albania ” is included in short - term priorities that the republic of albania, through the bank of albania, has undertaken in view of the obligations deriving from the saa, the european partnership, as well as in short - term and medium - term priorities required under the national plan for the implementation of the saa. this draft law aims at : - strengthening the system ’ s institutional framework ; - enhancing legal framework transparency through tasks clarification of participants in the

2008 is leaving and a new year is coming now. like the majority of various world economies, even our country is in front of many uncertainties. i would not like to overlook the domestic factors, but however, what is currently considered as the hottest issue, has to do with the overall global environment. for a long time from now, various agencies, and national and international institutions have forecasted a year of world contracted overall production. it would be utopian, and to a certain extent a lack of prudence, if we think that our economy would be slightly or not at all affected by global crisis. though albania is a small economy, it is open, with numerous relations for exchanging goods and financial funds. i have emphasized in my public presentations that all the actors should be prepared for harder days. in light of this i would like to notify you of a number of statements, findings or actions that we ( i mean the bank of albania and the banking system ) are going to carry out in the coming months. 1. based on the latest analysis of the country ’ s economic and financial developments and on inflation forecasts for two forthcoming years, i would like to emphasise that there is a good anchoring of inflationary expectations around the bank of albania ’ s 3 percent target. latest developments and information suggest that risks balance to future inflation is shifted to downward trend, creating space for manoeuvring in the near future. 2. based on recent empirical studies of the bank of albania, it comes out that the relation of credit to economy with the country ’ s economic growth is positive and relatively strong. so, the credit growth leads to maintaining current paces of the country ’ s economic activity. in the recent years credit to economy has eclipsed the contribution of the public sector to generating and using financial funds, also based on a long process of the country ’ s fiscal consolidation. this process of more effective usage of funds impacts on increasing the efficiency and the economic growth. a contraction of credit to economy carries over the risk of reverse action, of eclipsing the credit to economy contribution from the public sector ’ s spending. in this sense, being aware of all the difficulties ahead, i would insist once more on my request to you to continue to keep credit to economy paces. 3. further to my previous requests, i would once again require from you to be more active in the money market, in the interbank market and in securities market. the bank of albania has repeated