consolidation, as well as reforms, appear less urgent. i am thinking here of institutional reforms to make the euro area more stable. and this is precisely what i wish to talk briefly about today. 2 assessment of the italian referendum in this context, this must, of course, include an initial, provisional assessment of the implications of the italian referendum. as you know, a majority of italian voters rejected constitutional reform in yesterday ’ s referendum. 1 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches there is cause for concern that reforms in italy will stall once again. and this would be a troubling development, not just for italy. for years now, italy has been plagued by anaemic growth, very high government debt and piles of bad debt on banks ’ balance sheets. to quote the italian finance minister, a “ no ” would not the end of the world ; however, it is now all the more important for italy ’ s political class to send convincing signals that it is willing to tackle the root causes of its economic woes. 3 the institutional architecture of the monetary union and the need for reforms minister of state dr merk, you have invited us all to attend the award ceremony here at the prinz - carl palace, which houses the offices of bavaria ’ s prime minister and is regarded as one of munich ’ s most beautiful buildings. it is all the more noteworthy that this building ’ s architect, karl von fischer, was all of 21 years old and still a student when he received the commission to design this building. however, the patron, a french clergyman named pierre de salabert, found fischer ’ s blueprint too complex – and possibly too expensive – forcing the architect to scale back his design. what was built was the main section with a representative facade and a shortened wing branching off to the left. ladies and gentlemen, why am i telling you this story, which i ’ m sure you know already? well, the reason is that it somehow reminds me of the construction of european economic and monetary union. and i ’ m not saying that the architects of monetary union were novices. but it does appear that it was impossible to give the builders more comprehensive blueprints, which is why the monetary union was initially built with only one wing : the single currency. the second wing – a single fiscal and economic policy – was intentionally left out. this has left us with a single monetary policy in the euro area but largely autonomous national fiscal and economic policies. now, the architects were

place to contain it posed a barrier to public communication by increasing the distance with institutions, and above all, they turned into the most pressing issues of our time. in this view, i take this opportunity to thank all the journalists ( particularly those covering economic issues ), who through the professional commitment and integrity assisted the public at large to acquire the decision making of monetary and fiscal authorities throughout this unprecedented situation. the professionalism in making and conveying the news and economic analysis were a valuable and indispensable support to marinating price and financial stability. allow me to thank you once again for the work and devotion you exhibited over the course of this year. i strongly believe that the truthfulness and objectivity in reporting economic and financial news will continue to accompany you in fulfilling your duty in the coming year. i reaffirm that the bank of albania will continue be a transparent institution, ready to provide opinions and assessments as necessary in all public debates related to the performance of our economy and financial markets. a certificate of this commitment and achievement of the bank of albania in the communication with the public is the ranking first of the bank of albania among all the banks of central, eastern and south - eastern countries, for very active pubic communication, 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches in the last report : “ focus on the european economic integration ” for the second quarter of 2021, published by the national bank of austria. dear guests, the bank of albania continues to focus scrupulously on financial education and research considering it a crucial pillar of its activity. they are seen as the foundations for increasing the social - economic development and welfare of the citizens of albania. from this point of view, i kindly invite you to share together a special moment of this meeting : the traditional ceremony for the governor ’ s award for the best diploma. the bank of albania for this 15th year ceremony in a raw has selected and valued three scientific works amid all the presented researches by students graduated in albanian and abroad. allow me to reiterate and point out that over the years, we delightfully have noticed that the quality in the research work of participants has been on rise, turning the performed analyses and researches increasingly more professional. as in previous years, albanian students from domestic or foreign universities have applied and presented their best research work. we are happy to notice that participation and interest from students and universities has been significantly edging up, showing appreciation, reliability and reputation of this competition. this year, we received 25 studies,