gent sejko : " learn. save. earn. " speech by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the launching ceremony of the global money week, tirana, 27 march 2017. * * * honourable minister nikolla, dear aab chairman drougkas, dear guests, i have the pleasure to welcome you at the bank of albania premises. in addition to being a second home for its employees, since the opening of the museum, it has become an attractive learning place about finance for students. the global money week an event that involves local stakeholders in more than 140 countries is the highlight of all the educational activities conducted throughout the year. i am proud to say that, thanks to the persistent commitment of the bank of albania regarding financial education, albania has been featuring in the map of countries that organize this week. this persistence ensures the effectiveness of our educational programmes, and keeps active the connection between institutions engaged in the financial education of the public in general and the youth in particular. i take this opportunity to extend my most sincere gratitude for their commitment and support to the ministry of education and sports, the albanian association of banks, and other institutions present here today. under the motto “ learn. save. earn. ”, this year ’ s global money week is dedicated to raising awareness of young albanians on the importance of money and their involvement in the economic and financial system in albania and, why not, in the region and the world. the activities that will be organised during this week will especially aim at inspiring albanian children and youth to learn more about money, saving, creating prosperity, increasing employment and entrepreneurship. to illustrate this better, more than 45 activities will be organised and more than 3500 pupils and students will participate in these activities during this very busy week, with educational institutions : universities, high schools and nine - year schools. these numbers make us very proud, since they serve to raise the awareness on highly important issues, such as consumer information and financial inclusion. these two key issues contribute directly the economic wellbeing of households and businesses. financial education, especially of youth, is the best channel to put that effect in practice, as affirmed by the oecd, a reputable international institution. the bank of albania is and will remain dedicated to this mission, with the support of the ministry of education and other partners. their support and cooperation have had a decisive contribution in the success of such activities. also, the elective course “

implement an independent monetary policy. both similarities and differences are important in order to understand the role of our institutions in the assessment and availability of actions taken to safeguard financial stability. despite the arsenal of these actions, central banks cannot carry out this mission alone. central banks are in possession of a full arsenal of measures and instruments, but their implementation, albeit timely and complete, cannot have full effect unless they are coordinated and supported by other agents ’ actions. it is thus essential that all economically - important agents, public authorities, the public at large and the media are fully aware of this matter. apart from legal definitions, this awareness requires receiving comprehensive, regular and timely information on the events that may jeopardize financial stability and identifying the necessary protective actions. the regular release of reports dedicated to financial stability is the key instrument that meets this obligation. let me now share with you our experience at the bank of albania. according to our concept, the bank of albania has full legal responsibility for safeguarding financial stability. the bank of albania is attributed the exclusive role in terms of licensing and supervising the banking activity, the right to organize and monitor the operation of the payment systems, the lender - of - last - resort function to assist banks facing difficulties, the liquidity management function in the interbank market, and the determinant role in foreign exchange policy. the bank of albania has the obligation to inform the public about the events that may jeopardize the financial stability. in early 2007, the supervisory council of the bank of albania considered a better coverage of developments in the financial system – that is, not only in the banking sector ’ s alone – as highly important. in addition, it required strengthening the analysis of interaction between macroeconomic developments and the financial system ’ s activity. our ultimate goal was setting up a more sustainable mechanism that would allow the conversion of these analyses into proposals for concrete actions, in order to reduce systemic risk not only through the bank of albania ’ s actions but also through measures taken by other public authorities that have a role in monitoring the developments in the financial market. from the institutional viewpoint, in september that year, the supervisory council of the bank of albania, approved the establishment of the financial stability department, by selecting the most outstanding human capacities in the area of monetary operations, banking supervision, research and statistics. the conclusions derived from the analysis of this department would be regularly discussed at a higher central bank level, thus providing a useful filtering and enriching mechanism prior to