positive, although small ones. nevertheless, their complete materialisation demands for more time and the full and continuous commitment of all responsible institutions. the realisation of institutional duties implies also a constant attention on other fields of the bank of albania ’ s activity. due to the lack of time, i am going to highlight the main ones. 3. other activities the functioning of the economy and banking system is underpinned by a safe and efficient payment system. both systems operated by the bank of albania, the albanian interbank payment aips ) and albanian electronic clearing house ( aech ) have functioned efficiently and safely. in 2019, the use of electronic payment instruments by the public increased. the number of payments carried out through these instruments was 24 % higher from the previous year. during 2019, the bank of albania started the work for improving the regulatory framework related to the operation of these systems, to enable the non - bank financial institutions access aech system and establish the conditions for promoting the electronic payments. also, the bank of albania paid attention to regulate the activity of securities settlement by the private operators and the licensing of the operator that will carry out the settlement and registration of securities issued by the private companies. the presence of this operator completes the infrastructure for the functioning of capital markets in albania. 4 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches in the framework of promoting the reforms in payments market, the bank of albania has played an active role for the implementation of the national retail payments strategy 2018 – 2023. the bank of albania has collaborated for fostering the projects related with the formalisation of the economy, ( the “ draft - law on fiscalization ” ) ; the development of the respective infrastructure for the realisation of instant payments and for the settlement of payments in euro within albania ; as well as for increasing financial education. in the view of legal improvements, it was drafted and presented for approval to the assembly of the republic of albania the draft - law “ on payment services ” which transposes the respective directive of the european union. the assembly approved this draft - law on 30 april 2020. the implementation of this law will serve to promote and increase the financial inclusion of the population, reduce the payment services costs and boost the use of electronic payment instruments. the bank of albania is the sole authority for issuing banknotes and coins of legal tender in the republic of albania. during 2019, the bank of albania finalised the many - years ’ work for the production of the new series of “ lek ”

banknotes with respect to enhance their quality. also, the new denomination of 10 000 leke was added to the five existing denominations. on 30 september 2019, the bank of albania put into circulation the first denominations of the new series, 200 leke and 5000 leke. the new series of denominations 1000 leke and 10 000 leke banknotes will be put into circulation within 2020. the launching of the new series was accompanied by an informative and educational campaign, taking place throughout the republic of albania. with respect to implementing the parliament resolution, the objective of the educational campaign, was also making public aware to not use the terminology “ new lek – old lek, but simply lek ”. the bank of albania is the national authority responsible for holding and managing the official international reserves of the republic of albania. in this process, the bank of albania is guided by a hierarchy list of objectives, which imply the maintaining of international reserve liquidity, its security and earnings. at the end of 2019, the international reserve is invested into liquid assets with maturities of 0 - 3 years, and around 84 % of portfolio is invested in securities issued by high quality rating institutions. the return on the investment of reserve is positive, but at low levels due to an environment with low interest rates. the bank of albania is also one of the public statistical agencies. in this framework, this year it was completed the compilation of statistics on the external sector in compliance with eurostat requirements and it is being worked to build the “ micro data ”. as one of the institutions involved in the national plan for european integration, the bank of albania has accomplished all its obligations for reporting, and it has integrated the recommendations of the european commission in fulfilling is daily duties. the bank of albania has continuously been transparent and present to the public through the visual and online means of communication. this communication has aimed to be clear and understandable. lastly, special attention has been given to the improvement of the internal governance of the institution. following the establishment of the operational risk management function, the implementation of the platform on business continuity management was finalised in 2019. this platform orients the units of the bank of albania to react effectively for ensuring the continuity of critical processes during a crisis, and to recover the normal activity as fast as possible. the platform on business continuity management overcame successfully its test, where the measures foreseen in this platform enabled the bank of albania to normally continue its activity during the pandemic period.