0. 66 billion more than in the previous year. this figure constitutes 0. 66 percent of gdp accrued for 2004. good position of the banking system is reflected even in the main profitability indicators, roa and roe. these indicators have rested in high levels ; furthermore, they have undergone a slight growth in comparison to the previous years. this indicates that the net result growth was not only due to banking system assets growth but also due to productivity growth of assets and capital. during 2004 the banking system assets were raised by lek 52. 8 billion ( or 14. 1 percent ), about lek 18. 5 billion more than the growth of assets evidenced over 2003. year 2004 underwent a significant rise in lending activity, with a growth rate of 38 percent ( or lek 19. 3 billion ) at end of 2004, compared to 30. 5 percent at end of 2003. therefore, lending rose to 16. 4 percent of total assets of the system at end of 2004, from 13. 5 percent in the same period of 2003. lending quality indicator ( problem loans to credit balance ratio ) is estimated at 4. 2 percent, from 4. 6 percent at end of 2003. the lowest level of this indicator highlights improvement in lending quality and limited banking system exposure to credit risk. downward trend of capital adequacy ratio during 2004 was due to a better exploitation of banks ’ capacities in terms of extending in riskier investments. during 2004 the supervision process, trying to be proactive and continuous, had on its focus the risk assessment of banks ’ activity. following up the requirements of supervision development plan, the document on “ operative supervision policy ” was drafted and approved, prescribing banks ’ supervision principles. in view of this policy, the supervision cycle for banks that present less concern to supervision is lengthened from 12 months to 18 months, whereas for problematic banks it is reduced to 6 months. licensing and regulatory framework during 2004 the banking system in albania was characterized by dynamic developments, either in terms of increasing the number of banks operating in the market or in terms of extending the banking network in various areas of the country. at end of 2004 the number of banks in albania was 16, from which 2 banks are totally with domestic capital and 14 other banks have foreign capital. on april 2004 the banking system was further consolidated with the approval on the ownership transfer of 100 percent of the savings banks ’ stock to raiffeisen zentralbank, as a crowning of the privatization process

##3 ), “ sectoral shocks, reallocation, and labor market policies, ” european economic review, vol. 156 ( july ), 104494. - 11 immigrants may have contributed relatively more to u. s. growth because they often integrate more quickly into the labor force, as seen in the right figure. 22 finally, and turning our focus to monetary policy, this stronger economic performance, with falling inflation, has allowed the fomc to be patient about the timing in reducing our policy rate. this performance gave us time to strongly focus on the inflation side of our mandate. and this, together with the bump in inflation early this year, helps explain why we began to ease monetary policy to less - restrictive levels only after other central banks of advanced economies had done so. but now, the combination of significant ongoing progress in reducing inflation and a cooling in the labor market means that the time has come to begin easing monetary policy, and i strongly supported the decision by the fomc in our september meeting to cut the federal funds rate by 50 basis points. looking ahead, while i believe the focus should remain on continuing to bring inflation to 2 percent, i support shifting attention to the maximum - employment side of the fomc ’ s dual mandate as well. the labor market remains resilient, but i support a balanced approach to the fomc ’ s dual mandate so we can continue making progress on inflation while avoiding an undesirable slowdown in employment growth and economic expansion. if progress on inflation continues as i expect, i will support additional cuts in the federal funds rate to move toward a more neutral policy stance over time. still, my approach to any policy decision will continue to be data dependent and to rely on multiple and diverse sources of data to form my view of how the economy is see courtney brell, christian dustmann, and ian preston ( 2020 ), “ the labor market integration of refugee migrants in high - income countries, ” journal of economic perspectives, vol. 34 ( winter ), pp. 94 – 121. - 12 evolving. for instance, i am closely monitoring the economic effects from hurricane helene and from geopolitical events in the middle east, since these could affect the u. s. economic outlook. if downside risks to employment escalate, it may be appropriate to move policy more quickly to a neutral stance. alternatively, if incoming data do not provide confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent, it may