both on the supply and demand sides. on the demand side, the presence of free capacities in using the production factors is reflected in the costs control in economy and in declining pressures on inflation. on the supply side, the slowdown of imported inflationary pressures, decrease in oil and basic materials prices, steady administered prices, low inflationary expectations and minimal second - round effects did not generate inflationary pressures. consumer price inflation remains at low rates and is expected to maintain the same rate in the period ahead. these bis central bankers ’ speeches estimations conditioned the retaining of the stimulating nature of monetary policy during the second quarter of 2012. the key rate stood at the lowest historical level, providing eased monetary conditions in order to meet our inflation target and support the albania ’ s economic activity. also, the bank of albania has continued to inject sufficient liquidity demanded by the banking system, against an expanded collateral base and at adequate maturity terms. according to recent data from instat, the albanian economy recorded an annual fall of 0. 2 % in the first quarter of 2012. industry contracted 19. 3 % y - o - y, mainly due to the significant decrease in electrical energy output. also, construction decreased its activity in real terms, by 17. 6 %, thus providing a negative contribution to the performance of the gross domestic product. by contrast, services contributed positively to the economic activity, pointing to an annual growth of 6. 0 %. agricultural sector grew 4. 5 %, y - o - y during this period, providing a positive contribution to the growth of the gross domestic product. estimations on the aggregate demand in the first quarter of 2012 suggest a continuing weak domestic demand. the consolidated fiscal policy determined the lack of fiscal stimulus in this period and a downturn in public sector ’ s demand for goods and services. private consumption remains slow, thus reflecting the prudent consumer ’ s behaviour and the increasing tendency for saving. private investments also remained low. given the free production capacity, albanian businesses found less room to increase their investments in machineries & equipment, and production, while the demand for resident buildings remains weak. at the same time, foreign demand was sluggish in the second quarter of 2012, owing to the problems in euro zone and in our main foreign trade partners. the weak foreign demand, and the problems in electrical energy production, imposed the slow increase of the albanian exports. data on economy for the second quarter of 2012 are incomplete. indirect data signal a weak recovery

’ m sure that many of you have questions about that journey. the answers to all of your questions – and probably more – are on a new website that the fed has created at federalreservehistory. org. i encourage you to visit this site to learn more about the people, places and events that have shaped federal reserve history. i won ’ t say too much more about fed history – perhaps to the relief of some of you! – but i do want to address one of the things that i think has changed the most over the federal reserve ’ s history : our communication with the public. a hundred years ago, congress created a system that was designed specifically so that the residents of main street would have a voice in monetary policy. technology has changed a lot since 1914 – i ’ m told that they didn ’ t even have smartphones back then – and so the ways that we gather information from main street have changed. but this fact - finding is still an important part of the making of monetary policy. indeed, earlier today, i met with fargo business leaders to gather exactly this kind of information. communication is a two - way street, however. during the past century, the federal reserve ’ s communications to the public about its monetary policy actions have also evolved greatly. the pace of change was especially rapid in the past eight years under chairman bernanke ’ s leadership. during that time, the federal reserve specified an explicit target for inflation, began holding regular press conferences and greatly expanded its use of forward guidance – that is, its communications about the likely future evolution of policy. so, as the federal bis central bankers ’ speeches reserve system plans for its second century, i would say that the importance of two - way communication is a key lesson from the system ’ s first century. in order for the fed to continue to be effective, it needs to communicate its policy decisions transparently to the public. conversely, it also needs the public ’ s input into how those policies are affecting them. events like the one today, and my meeting with business leaders earlier today, are a key part of fostering that two - way communication. with that background in mind, let me turn back to the federal open market committee and the making of monetary policy. i mentioned that the fomc meets eight times per year. at those meetings, we decide on the level of monetary stimulus for the economy. i won ’ t get into too many details of what that term “ monetary stimulus ”