shocks in extreme adverse scenarios and can operate normally. on the other hand, the bank of albania has also been very attentive to the performance of the economy. as you may have heard, last week, the supervisory council of the bank of albania cut the key interest rate by 0. 25 percentage points. this was the third cut we made having a welldefined aim to support and boost economic activity in albania further. due to the unprecedented financial crisis facing the global economy in general, and the euro area economy in particular, the economic growth in albania remains below its long - term equilibrium. i refer here to the potential economic growth, or put into more simple words, to the level our economy would grow if it used all its production capacities. we have made attempts in our analyses to find the reasons behind this performance, the consequences and some of the measures that would help smooth out this concern. in the following, i would like to elaborate on some of our conclusions. bis central bankers ’ speeches i will begin the analysis of the economic and financial situation in albania dwelling on what we have considered as the major cause and source of risks for the future : the severe global crisis. the situation in our trading partners is a product of the developments in global economy, which is facing a hard period in terms of the macroeconomic and financial stability. the high debt levels of governments and the individuals have curbed the capacity of many advanced economies to spend and make investments, thus affecting the economic activity and their capacity to pay off debt adversely. many reputable representatives from the academia and the business attribute the cause of the crisis ( debt - burdened balance sheets of the governments and individuals ) to globalization and the competition it generates. due to the rising costs, advanced economies have generally lost their historical advantages in producing goods and services, replacing the absent income with debt, which now they have to pay off. why are these developments important to the albanian economy? first, it is necessary to understand that these advanced economies are our major trading partners. they are the main users of our exports and, at the same time, the source of imported consumer goods and fuels. second, these economies are the major investors in the albanian economy and the financial system. third, these countries are hosting the albanian migrants. fourth, we believe that another effect relates to the psychological factor, which emerges in the form of consumers ’ and firms ’ hesitation to consume and invest. subsequently, the difficulties facing our neighbouring partners are converted into difficulties

andreas dombret : an overview of the cre ( commercial real estate ) market contribution by dr andreas dombret, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, as lead discussant at the fsb ( financial stability board ) workshop on commercial real estate underwriting, frankfurt am main, 8 may 2013. * * * ladies and gentlemen i am delighted to welcome you to the fsb workshop on commercial real estate underwriting practices on behalf of the deutsche bundesbank. we are very happy to host this important fsb event here in frankfurt. i am very pleased that so many dedicated real estate experts from a variety of fsb member countries and institutions, from standard setting bodies and from the private sector participate today. i am sure that the gathered expertise will lead to fruitful discussions and provide for interesting insights. let me now start this session by sharing my views on global commercial real estate financing. i will touch on two issues in the following minutes : first its relevance for banks and other participants in the financial markets and second its implications for financial stability. one of the reasons for the financial crisis was the us sub - prime crisis caused by lax lending practices and overheating residential real estate markets. the fsb has completed considerable work in this area, which mounted in fsb principles on sound residential mortgage underwriting practices. the question about the other and perhaps even more important part of the real estate lending business will be dealt with in this workshop : could excessive risks from commercial real estate financing negatively affect financial stability? ( slide ) the global stock of commercial real estate is estimated at 31. 2 trillion u. s. dollars as of 2011. about two thirds of global total stock is considered to be investable. the majority of investable stock is already invested and accounts for more than 12 trillion u. s. dollars. this part is in the primary focus of this workshop. taking into account the market share of commercial banks it is not surprising that for example european banks have an estimated total cre lending exposure of 2. 4 trillion euros. but let me stick to the cre markets for a few more moments before i will turn to the lenders and banks. ( slide ) since 2007 we have seen a divergent development of cre prices among the g20 countries. south africa, canada and korea are the only countries that show an increase of cre prices since 2007. contrary to them most other countries suffer from a more or less strong deterioration of cre prices.