of these assets at the fed reached 2. 1 trillion dollars. in the second round, it bought another 600 bln usd. similar non - standard measures have been taken by the bank of england and bank of japan. the unconventional measures of the ecb in response to the crisis have been somewhat different. ecb ’ s tools focused on supporting liquidity and funding for the banking system. the ecb introduced the fixed rate and full allotment principle to all refinancing operations in october 2008. it extended collateral eligibility to less liquid assets. between 2009 and 2011, the longer - term refinancing operations ( ltros ) were extended to maturities of up to rajan, r. ( 2013 ), a step in the dark : unconventional monetary policy after the crisis. andrew crockett memorial lecture, bis, 23 june 2013. bis central bankers ’ speeches 3 years. the ecb also started a purchase program of covered bonds which are a key source of funding credit for private banks in many euro area countries. 2 most importantly, the ecb did not initiate purchases of government bonds. however, in 2010 – 2012 the ecb operated the securities market programme ( smp ), which amounted to sterilized interventions on public and private bond markets ( in practice only public ). this was done to to facilitate monetary policy transmission in countries that faced severe sovereign debt problems. the culmination of the eurozone crisis in mid - 2012 was tamed by the creation of the ecb ’ s omt ( outright monetary transactions ) program. i quote president draghi ’ s promise that “ within [ its ] mandate, the ecb is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro ”. 3 omt is a conditional promise to buy in the secondary market without limit government bonds of selected euro area countries. omt has worked and remarkably, there has so far not been any need to activate the program. international spillovers liquidity support operations by central banks at different stages, explicit state guarantees to banks and expansionary policies succeeded in stopping the recession, which changed the course of developments in comparison to the 1930 ’ s. these unconventional policy measures were not implemented in a group of economically disconnected islands, but in a globalized world with synchronized financial cycles and few borders for capital. 4 it is therefore important to ask what the consequences of these new forms of monetary policy for other countries are and how strong are the potential spillovers. one new line of theoretical research points

fiscal ones, to avoid excesses in the financial activity, not only in the financial industry but also in the balance sheet of households and businesses. such measures will require strong coordination and responsibility by the public authorities in the national level, and a commitment to push ahead with the necessary steps to reform and improve the supervisory superstructure in the regional, european and global level. in the european level, such measures will be supported by the findings and recommendations of the “ de larosiere report ”, but of course their implementation will not be easy. as it is expected to be a more centralized model for globally systemic banks and, to an extent, a more decentralized one for smaller financial institutions, we hope that supervisory authorities in small countries will have a better determined position that would allow for clearer responsibilities and stronger voice in communication with the supervisors in the home countries. more or less, all the countries in our region have resisted the initial direct impact of the international crisis, by enjoying some natural protection from less developed and integrated financial markets and a much lower level of indebtedness from the households and businesses, compared to developed countries. however, it is now clear that at the time of continuing financial integration and economic globalization, this may not be enough to compensate for potential risks coming from less diversified economic growth, overreliance in remittances, insufficient culture of risk management in financial institutions and other economic agents – in particular for the exchange rate and liquidity risk, and very limited space from the public authorities to introduce financial measures similar to those in the developed countries. hence, policy measures should address these and other deficiencies to find a proper solution in the medium - term. such measures should reflect the preference for preventive approaches. … and in albania the bank of albania has been vocal in its concern regarding the impact of the international financial crises, in particular regarding the performance of the albanian economy. risks to economic growth have increased and they are related in particular with a further decline in credit from the banking sector, an increasing trade deficit ( due to a slowdown in exports ), a sharp contraction of remittances ( due to perception of lower wealth and increasing unemployment in the developed countries ). we believe that at these times, there is a much stronger need for a careful monetary policy and responsible fiscal policy. regarding the financial sector, we believe that there is also a need to establish certain rules, that would support a more balanced and safe development of the financial industry in general and of the banking