has on its activity. lending grew by about 13. 2 percent in 2009. all lending provided the major contribution to the overall growth, supported by the gradual increase of public deposits and the injection of liquidity by the bank of albania. lending in foreign currency was stagnant, against a background of reduced availability of free foreign currency funds by banks and limited demand for loans as a result of the exchange rate devaluation. another reason for the slowdown in lending owes to the more cautious lending policies adopted by banks against a background of higher credit risk resulting from the higher difficulties in the real sector of the economy. more specifically, the ratio of non - performing loans rose to 10. 5 per cent at year - end. its rise persisted in the early months of the present year though at a slower rate. as a result of the deteriorated loan quality, the entire banking sector has doubled the respective reserve funds, hence providing a negative contribution to the banking sector ’ s financial result. the latter was in 2009 half as much as the value in 2008 and had a greater concentration. the bank of albania has for long been vocal as regards the recovery of lending, which will not only boost the economy and customers, but also the banks themselves. the economic setting definitely remains challenging and the return to the 2008 lending growth rates is unrealistic, indeed undesirable. but we do believe that there exist opportunities – particularly in terms of the deposit growth performance – that the growth of lending will be better in 2010 relative to the previous year. based on the early months ’ survey carried out by the bank of albania for this purpose, the same expectation seems to be supported by you as well. however, though the recovery of lending is a desirable development, it should be carried out on the basis of a prudential analysis, monitoring carefully the loan quality performance. in more practical terms, it is necessary that banks fully reflect the size of non - performing loans for the existing loans and create appropriate reserves for covering the risk of loan losses. as far as non - performing loans are concerned, banks must identify customers with temporary and surmountable problems, and should set up policies that provide support to these customers in exchange to additional elements that hedge the bank against such credit risk in the future. as regards the customers assessed as having low creditworthiness, banks should without hesitation follow the procedures for the execution of the collateral and other forms of collateral, in order to recover as large as possible amount of credit. the

heng swee keat : the sale of structured products to retail investors opening remarks by mr heng swee keat, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the monetary authority of singapore ’ s press conference on the sale of structured products to retail investors, singapore, 17 october 2008. * * * many individuals who purchased structured products linked to lehman brothers are worried about their investments. mas has been actively working to ensure a fair resolution for these investors. we have also been communicating our actions to the public since the issue first came to light in the middle of september. our first priority has always been to help affected investors. let me touch on what we have done and how we have put in place a serious and impartial resolution process to deal with investors ’ legitimate concerns. first, we are making sure that hsbc institutional trust services ( singapore ) ltd, the trustee for the lehman minibond programme, carefully considers all options and acts in the interests of investors. if a new swap counterparty is available, investors would have the opportunity to vote on this option. in order to assist investors make an informed decision, mas will appoint an independent financial adviser. we expect the trustee to know whether options will be available to noteholders by the end of next week. second, each fi now has an independent person to oversee the complaints handling process relating to the sale of the lehman minibond programme, dbs high notes 5 and merrill lynch jubilee series 3 linkearner notes. these persons are gerard ee, hwang soo jin and law song keng. we recognise that the complaints handling process has not been easy, particularly for customers of some fis. but as circumstances for each case may be different, this is the best way to deal with all the complaints. the independent parties will ensure that customers get a fair hearing. we have set a very clear timeline for complaints to be resolved. all the fis have also set up internal review panels which are chaired by their ceos. the panel is expected to conduct a thorough review of each complaint and decide on a course of action within four weeks. the decision will then be communicated to the customer. third, for affected investors who are not satisfied with the fis decision on the matter, we have established a fast - track process to refer the case to the financial industry disputes resolution centre ( fidrec ). the fidrec mediation process is free for consumers. if a case goes to arbitration, it will cost the consumer $ 50