this regime will provide a better platform for harmonizing the monetary policy with the fiscal one, implying that the fiscal authority will seriously commit to support the proposed setup. to this purpose, we invite the albanian government to reach a consensus on the key objectives of both policies, monetary and fiscal, adopting the convergence criteria as a strategic goal. success in this endeavour requires albania, among other things, not only continuity on the path of sound macro policies but even strengthening them further. this means a monetary policy focused on maintaining price stability and a prudent fiscal policy which will ensure that albania ’ s deficits and debt ratios are sustainable and at low levels to increase the attractiveness to international investors. put differently pursuing a monetary policy focused on price stability and a prudent fiscal policy, will no doubt reduces albania ’ s risk premium. the benefit of this achievement will be felt throughout the economy. to support my idea i have to tell you one fresh news. yesterday albania succeeded to sell internationally a seven year fixed rate bond in lek. this was not a result of a toss of coin, but a reflection of international confidence in the albanian economy and its macro policies. this confidence should increase in 2008, 2009 and beyond. regardless of the monetary policy regime it is to be said that the chances for this setup to be successful are greater under a developed financial market, which understands properly the monetary policy signals and transmits them adequately to the economy. monetary policy efficiency implies the financial market efficiency. this issue has been part of my earlier discussions ; however i would like to highlight that only recently we have taken concrete steps which will improve certain financial market segments. we have currently tried to adopt a set of measures which will facilitate the reformation process of the financial market by further deepening it. in more concrete terms, the government securities market and the interbank market have been most particularly under our special focus. after several consultations with all actors in place we decided to come up with a package of initiatives and priorities during 2008 whose purpose is to establish incentives and minimize risks in the albanian financial market : - broadening and deepening the base of participants in the government securities market starting from january 2008 we will increase the investors ’ base, eligible to directly invest in the auctions of government bonds. we believe it will increase the competition while so - far this was a privilege enjoyed by the banking system. - reducing the interbank market risk so far, the banking system has applied limits on the amounts it can lend in the inter

implemented the green revolution. after the oil shocks of the 1970s, emigration from south asia to west asia became one of the largest market - driven labour flows. this, in turn, led to a significant increase in remittance flows to the region. the asian financial crisis of 1997 impacted the south asian countries in terms of surges in capital outflows and exchange market pressures. over the years, as a crisis prevention strategy, the south asian countries prioritised sound macroeconomic policies and embraced financial sector reforms focusing on competition, prudential regulation, enhanced transparency, audit and accounting standards. these measures helped in preserving macro stability while sustaining integration of domestic economies with the global economy. 4. in recent years, multiple shocks, in particular the covid - 19 pandemic and the war in ukraine, have dampened the economic prospects of the south asian region, as in other parts of the world. some countries in the region have also been contending with the 1 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches ramifications of unsustainable debt and climate change induced events. consequently, they have been seeking recourse to the imf's financing facilities. notwithstanding these challenges, as per the world economic outlook database ( october 2022 ) of the imf, india, bangladesh and maldives would be among the fastest growing economies in the world in 2022 and 2023. according to the asian development bank's december 2022 outlook, the south asian region's gdp is projected to grow at 6. 5 per cent in 2022 and 6. 3 per cent in 2023. 5. the world bank estimates that regional co - operation could be a win - win situation for all countries of the region1. for example, intra - regional trade is currently only one - fifth of its potential, implying an annual shortfall of us $ 44 billion. the world bank assessment also suggests that a common electricity market for bangladesh, bhutan, india and nepal can yield savings of us $ 17 billion in capital costs. investment in transport and logistics could help reduce the cost for container shipments in south asia. according to a study by the imf ( 2019 ) on south asia, more than 150 million people will enter the south asian labour force by 2030. the dependency ratio is expected to continue ebbing for almost two decades, indicating the strong demographic dividend the region is set to reap. policy priorities i would now like to focus on some of the desirable policy priorities for the