##buff given to the bank of ireland there when it made exploratory inquiries in september 1939, that was the proximate trigger for the government ( supported by many opposition deputies ) to take the plunge. and so was created an entity which, unlike its predecessor, would have the power and resources to increase “ the cash reserve of … banks [ which ] will thereby be in a position to lend more freely and so set the wheels of trade and industry in motion again. ” this exciting prospect did not, however, enthuse william norton, leader of the labour party, who opposed the central bank bill saying that it “ in fact, is really eye - wash ” and, as the economist had already written, “ likely to be little more than the existing currency commission under a new name. ” as it turned out, most of the new powers acquired by the bank, such as lending to and taking deposits from banks and government, did indeed remain largely unused for a couple of decades. and the one - for - one sterling exchange rate link remained firmly in primary legislation until 1971. it was not until the early 1970s – the whitaker years – that it could be said without fear of contradiction that the central bank was no longer operating as a mere currency board. even in the 1970s, public communication was simpler than it is today. for example, the governor was able to muse publicly on exchange rate policy without fear of the message reaching the london money markets by the simple expedient of speaking in irish : ( see t. k. bis central bankers ’ speeches whitaker ’ s 1976 talk, printed in the bank ’ s 1976 annual report : “ an ceangal le sterling : an cheart e a bhriseadh? ” ) thereafter change came relatively rapidly as the central bank had to respond to a changing external environment. creation of the european monetary system did bring the foreshadowed end to the sterling link in 1979, but the new and brittle exchange rate regime was associated with acute monetary management challenges at a time of acute domestic fiscal pressure. the ems crisis of 1992 – 93, which saw banks having to borrow from the central bank at 100 per cent interest rate, culminated for the central bank in a weekend – exactly twenty years ago – that saw both a celebratory concert to commemorate the bank ’ s golden anniversary, and the final ems devaluation of the irish pound. the emergence of the ifsc in subsequent years was the catalyst for a great expansion in financial

ardian fullani : recent economic and financial developments in albania speech by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, at the press conference on the bank of albania ’ s supervisory council decision on monetary policy, tirana, 23 february 2011. * * * today, on 23 february 2011, the supervisory council of the bank of albania reviewed and approved the monthly monetary policy report. based on a thorough analysis of albania ’ s latest economic and monetary developments and discussions on their performance outlook, the supervisory council of the bank of albania decided to leave the key interest rate unchanged at 5. 00 %. the supervisory council confirmed that the actual monetary conditions remain appropriate for meeting the medium - term inflation target and for supporting the domestic economic activity. i would like to proceed with a brief overview of economic developments and main issues discussed at today ’ s meeting of the supervisory council. * * * recent data from the global economy confirm the positive underlying momentum of the economic activity in developed and developing economies. despite the gradual withdrawal of fiscal and monetary stimulus, economic growth has been stable, as a result of the recovery in the private sector demand in developing countries. on the other hand, the higher demand has triggered a price increase in commodities, basic products and food items, thus impacting the shift of the inflationary pressures upward. nevertheless, globally, consumer price inflation remains still contained, as long as major economies continue to be characterised by below - potential economic growth. global financial markets are improving, but they are still fairly sensitive to fiscal perspectives of certain economies and to tensions in the euro area. additionally, these markets show relatively little interest in south eastern europe countries, including albania. overall, world economic growth is expected to remain high for the upcoming period as well, contributing also to the triggering of inflationary pressures and drawing more attention of monetary authorities to macroeconomic balances. domestic economic and monetary developments continued to generate an environment of contained inflationary pressures. annual inflation for january 2011 was 3. 3 %, dropping by 0. 1 p. p. compared to december 2010. this decline of inflation in january is totally due to the statistical effect of neutralising the increasing impact of some administered prices on inflation. on the other hand, food items and oil prices increased significantly, as a result of rising prices in world markets. these factors contributed by about 80 % to the formation of the inflation figure. increased agricultural products prices affected mostly the low - income segments of the albanian society. as stated above, domestic inflationary