gent sejko : increasing the formalization of the albanian economy address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the joint press conference with the minister of finance and economy, tirana, 7 december 2017. * * * dear minister ahmetaj, dear media representatives, it is with great pleasure that i present this concrete initiative of the bank of albania ( boa ) in the framework of our efforts to promote the formalization of the economy. it is encouraging to see that a series of initiatives by other albanian authorities are taken for the same purpose, to enhance the law enforcement and the use of financial channels. experience has shown that complementary efforts of regulatory institutions lower the policies ’ implementation costs and increase their likelihood for success. informal activity imposes open and hidden costs for the albanian economy and the society. it damages the country ’ s public finances, increases the tax burden and distorts its effect on the economic agents, hampers competition and increases the costs of fair business activity, reduces business financing resources and curbs their normal development, and creates social problems that arise from lack or insufficient coverage of social and health insurance. from the boa ’ s point of view, as the monetary authority and as the supervisor and regulator of the banking sector, informal activity reduces the effectiveness of our stabilization policies and creates the premises for instability of one or more segments of the financial system. focusing on the latter issue, i would like to remind you that safeguarding and strengthening financial stability has been and remains a major objective of boa ’ s work. as we have stated in our previous communications, the deterioration of the loan portfolios ’ quality has been one of the biggest challenges we have been facing in recent years. this deterioration reflected the effect of many factors, but the high level of informality in the economy, undoubtedly, provided its contribution to this performance. more concretely, the lack of financial transparency, lack or problems with property titles and those encountered during the execution of collateral contributed to the increase of non - performing loans and were a barrier to our legal and regulatory measures, for their reduction. in addition to the negative impact of informality on the loan performance and quality, it has also negatively affected the borrowers. taking risks beyond the repayment capacities, not identified as a result of the lack of clarity regarding the financial statements, has also caused credit default, thus making / driving borrowers face with unpredictable situations. for these reasons, the bank of albania has commended

. getting a promotion in the process of changing jobs allows employees to avoid the “ dues paying ” that can keep workers in a painfully slow rise up the corporate ladder. job hopping can also lead to greater job fulfillment. a 2012 survey by net impact 2 found that 88 percent of all workers considered “ positive culture ” important or essential to their dream job, and 86 percent said the same for work they found “ interesting. ” the same survey found that millennials are the least satisfied in their careers. i also recognize that firms are no longer just competing with others in the financial sector for talent. with skills that can be adapted across multiple industries, the talent pool that was once specialized for financial firms is now spread thin. this puts pressure on the firms and gives talented workers the advantage of being selective in their roles. they demand more from hiring managers and sense other opportunities out there if they ’ re not satisfied. as i said to a group of foreign firms a few weeks ago, all firms, regardless of size, need to keep this information in mind and get better at planning in advance, ensuring their recruiting efforts are providing a steady stream of qualified candidates, and looking for opportunities to move people around within the organization, particularly between the front office and control functions, to develop more well - rounded professionals. this is likely to mean more aggressive, creative and targeted searches and a commitment to ongoing training. as the competitive landscape and regulatory requirements change, firms will need to find the right balance between hiring new talent with specific expertise and training current staff to keep them up to speed and capitalize on institutional knowledge. 3. continuing to build resilience – stress testing and risk management : no, i am not suggesting that all firms, regardless of size, are going to be required to participate in ccar. however, i believe that incorporating the motivating principles behind stress testing into your planning – namely thinking about the many ways that tomorrow could be different from today and what that could mean for your business – is at the heart of managing your risk and your business with foresight and prudence. sound risk management demands a thorough understanding of the organization ’ s full risk profile today and how it could evolve tomorrow. employee tenure in 2014. talent report : what workers want in 2012. bis central bankers ’ speeches we expect banking organizations of all types and sizes to have the capacity to analyze the potential impact of adverse outcomes on their financial condition. stress testing can be a means to carry out such analysis. certain portions