gent sejko : aligning monetary policy with financial stability - their objectives, responses and interaction in times of uncertainty welcome address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the annual conference 2016 " aligning monetary policy with financial stability - their objectives, responses and interaction in times of uncertainty ", tirana, 27 october 2016. * * * your excellency prime minister, your excellencies ambassadors, honourable members of the government, ladies and gentlemen, dear mr anastasakis, dear guests, it ’ s my great pleasure to welcome you to the annual conference of the bank of albania 2016. the conference is organised in cooperation with the european studies centre of st antony ’ s college, university of oxford. this year ’ s conference will focus on two main topics that prevail in the analyses and debates among policymakers, academia and professionals circles : first, possible implications from the brexit ; and second, determining the modalities for coordinating the monetary policy with the macroprudential policy and measures, in the new reality we are facing. together with guests from european and regional central banks, international institutions and academia, we will be discussing about the current challenges, and appropriate policies and instruments central banks need to employ. i am confident the proceedings of this conference will produce more clarity for all participants, policy makers and private sector representatives alike. let me elaborate in greater details the perspective of the bank of albania on these two topics. - initially, i would like to present the backdrop of the current economic and financial situation. - next, i would like to share the albanian and regional perspective on the possible implications from brexit. - concluding, i would like to present an overview of challenges facing the two main central bank policies : the monetary policy and the macroprudential policy. 1. albania and western balkans in the post - crisis period the last global crisis affected the economic, financial and social dimensions of the human activity. by size of shock, complexity of challenges and interdependence of transmission channels, the crisis was unprecedented, for decades. it started as turbulence in certain segments of the financial system to later transform into a fully - fledged crisis of the system ; before long, it was transferred to the real sector. this shock caused immense loss in production 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches and employment levels, reduced the welfare and put to test the stability of growth and development models in many countries. western balkan countries were

anita angelovska - bezoska : workshop on fintech - opening remarks opening remarks by ms anita angelovska - bezoska, governor of the national bank of the republic of macedonia, at the nbrm workshop on fintech, skopje, 28 may 2018. * * * dear mr. jay tikam, dear colleagues, it is my great pleasure to open the nbrm workshop on a topic that has been attracting a rising interest by regulators, supervisors and central bankers, i. e. a workshop on fintech organizations that, by combining new business models and innovative technology, gradually change the shape of the financial services segment. the main idea of this workshop is to become better acquainted with this rather new but very important topic. it has been organized with the support of the european fund for southeast europe, for which we are thankful. although in continental europe, fintech companies account for just a small share of the markets for banking, payment services and asset management, still they are on the rise as they are rapidly entering the markets and competing with banks. according to ernst & young ’ s fintech adoption index, one - third of the consumers utilize at least two or more fintech services and they are increasingly aware of fintech as part of their day - to - day activities. the fintech adoption index for services offered by fintech organizations, divided into five broad categories – money transfers and payment services, financial planning tools, savings and investments, borrowing and insurance, indicates that money transfers and payment services are continuing to lead the fintech charge with adoption standing at 50 % in 2017 and 88 % of consumers anticipating of doing so in the future. this rapid rise in fintech organizations has posed many dilemmas : what are the benefits that fintechs bring to the society, on the one hand, and what are the risks that they create, on the other? is it the end of banking or are banks going to team up with the newcomers? one of the main concerns in this regard is that while fintech companies increase financial inclusion, facilitate the access to finance and lead to more competitive markets, they can also be conducive to cutting costs and rising risks in the traditional banking segment. against this background, the fintech topic has received an increasing attention in the central banking community, including our central bank. we have been closely monitoring the fintech developments, evaluating the benefits and risks that they bring and trying to strike a right balance given the local context. an