gent sejko : judging the progress achieved regarding reforms and economic policies opening address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the the presentation of the ebrd's transition report 2016 - 2017, tirana, 27 january 2017. * * * dear ebrd representatives, dear participants, it is a special pleasure for us to host this event again and offer our cooperation for the presentation of the transition report 2016 – 2017, compiled by the european bank for reconstruction and development. while only one year has passed since the last presentation, the challenges facing the global economy have been numerous. they are rather complex, creating the perception that we are before a new era. the existing problems, combined with the political, economic, and social developments in recent years, have contributed to the insofar convergence process. nonetheless, the transition report evidences and documents, professionally and reliably, the economic, legal and institutional progress made in terms of transition and convergence, providing the appropriate space and priority for the future reforms. this is notably an independent assessment and a contemporary standard that helps us objectively judge on the progress achieved regarding reforms and economic policies implemented by the authorities in the relevant country. figuratively, it sets the pace with which the society may assess the responsibility and accountability of the authorities to the public and the market. in this context, the report assesses as positive the reforms and economic policies undertaken by the albanian authorities. moreover, the conclusions of the report on economic developments and monetary and financial situation are similar to the analyses and conclusions of the bank of albania at the end of 2016. in concrete terms, the albanian economy has accelerated the growth pace driven mainly by the accommodative monetary policy of the bank of albania and its effective pass - through to the economy. these factors, coupled with the further recovery of domestic demand will play a significant role in the further growth of economic activity during 2017. the report points to the important fact that the banking system is liquid, well capitalised and capable to withstand shocks that may come from the external sector. it identifies non - performing loans as the main risk not only to the system ’ s soundness but also to the monetary policy passthrough in credit growth for the private sector. the report assesses positively the coordinated plan of actions by the bank of albania in cooperation with the government of albania and international institutions, to address comprehensively and definitively the issues of nonperforming loans. the

ardian fullani : recent economic developments in albania speech by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, at the press conference on monetary policy decision - making of the supervisory council of the bank of albania, tirana, 24 march 2010. * * * the supervisory council of the bank of albania, in its meeting of 24 march 2010, analyzed and adopted the monetary policy monthly report. given the latest economic and monetary developments at home, their projections in future and after assessing the balance of expected risks, the supervisory council of the bank of albania, at the conclusion of discussions decided to leave the key interest rate unchanged, at 5. 25 %. after the heavy shock incurred over 2008 and during the first six months of 2009, the world economy has entered into a recovery stage of the economic activity, stimulated by the expansionist monetary and fiscal policy. the main central banks continued to follow an easing monetary polices with the purpose to sustain lending market and to guarantee the economic stability growth. the end of economic recession is accompanied by the invigoration of inflationary pressures, thus reflecting both statistical impact related to the performance of basic commodity prices, as well the demand growth in the world economy. the performance of financial markets was stable and the main indicators of risk are stabilized at lower rates. notwithstanding, the attention of financial markets is dominated by the increase of uncertainty in terms of fiscal stability of some euro area countries. this is reflected on the increase of government securities yields of these countries, as well as on the enhanced sensitivity of investors against fiscal developments. the economic activity is assessed to have recorded a progressive slowdown of the growth pace, these last six months. the latest indicators of real economy, as sales ’ indicators, the monetary and confidence indicators, signal further hampering of the economic growth during the fourth quarter of year 2009 and in the early months of 2010. the stoppage of investments from the major part of businesses, the low exploitation of capacities, the decrease of capital goods ’ import, and the low increase of loans for investments, reveal a slower performance of private investments even in the early months of this year. on the other hand, the more moderated growth paces of employment and wages, the shrinking of consumer loans, the weak performance of retail sales, as well as the indices on the increase of consumers ’ preferences for savings, show a hampering even of the current and expected consumer in the short - term period. external sector of economy has manifested positive signals during january