while in the old member states the growth rate of comparable salaries has slowed down. the purchasing - power - adjusted difference in the standard of living has narrowed down. in some professional groups, however, such as doctors and nurses – who in earlier communist times were notoriously badly paid – emigration has been wide, causing substantial problems to the countries which have been drained of employees in these professional groups. it is nevertheless evident that the majority of people prefer to remain in their home lands. the need for labour to migrate will decrease if capital moves towards labour. this has, in fact, happened broadly throughout europe. differences between global developments and the eu's internal development can also be found in capital flows. developments within the eu have followed the'normal theory ', investment has flowed from wealthy economies to economies with a low capital stock. in contrast, global developments have taken the opposite direction : investment has flowed from developed and from not so developed economies with surplus to the united states. this has been the cause of a major debate. investment flows to new member states are generally reflected in large current account deficits in these economies. these imbalances in financing conditions must be taken into account in economic policies and at central banks. a large current account deficit is often a serious problem, but not always. if the deficit is financed through a stable and long - term arrangement and the funds are directed in effective real investment, a large current account deficit is an indication of the strength of the economy, rather than of its weakness. by and large, deficit financing in the new member states is quite reliable. arrangements such as internal financing in international corporations have already been experienced. yet, the rate of indebtedness of some countries raises certain doubts. it can be taken as a positive development that the primary reason for the transfer of investment capital does not seem to be only the member states'cheaper labour, but largely companies'desire to establish their presence in new member states'rapidly growing markets and to diversify their supply chain. although capital flows in the eu are free from currency regulation, flexible movement of capital even within the euro area is not fully effective. european financial market integration is still not complete. many surveys show that higher depth and liquidity and improving the efficiency of payment transfers and the securities markets would make a substantial contribution to transforming the structures of the economy. movement of labour is complicated by a number of problems. it is difficult for individual people with poor language skills to move to a foreign country and take up

note here that the pleasant level of our foreign exchange reserve is one of the main indicators supporting the positive risk assessment of the country in international financial markets. the european integration process, where the direct responsibility fields of the bank of albania are evidenced as the closest contact points with the european union legislations, or acquis communutaire. in terms on national currency management, the bank of albania has ensured the normal supply of market with cash, even in the presence of considerable operational challenges triggered by the pandemic. also, we have refreshed the entire series of existing banknotes. this process was finalised at the beginning of this year with the introduction of the last two denominations. in parallel, with the refreshment, in response to both the requirements posed by the time and the economic and financial developments, the series is completed with a new banknote, with a nominal value 10, 000 leke. the entire series of the banknotes has a contemporary design and meets the highest security standards. financial education, a crucial investment for the awareness of the management of personal finances and enhancing the welfare of the society. communication with public, the bank of albania is already a more transparent institution and in turns more accessible to the public at large. the regular communication of our decisions and views, the organisation and participation in academic conferences, and the rigorous accomplishment in a timely manner of requests for information, are assessed by our international partners. in more concrete terms, the national bank of austria in the last report, ranked the bank of albania first among all the banks of central, eastern and south - eastern countries, for the level and quality of public communication. dear members of the committee, notwithstanding the successful results that i listed above, i still do not consider my mission as complete so far. looking forward, i see that the bank of albania has a lot to achieve in all aspects. allow me to briefly list the priorities in my agenda for the second term. first priority is related to monetary policy and price stability. in capacity of the governor of the bank of albania, i have been heedful and i will make sure that the quantity and cost of money in economy enables : the stability of prices ; the sustainable economic growth and the improvement of welfare. in the medium term, addressing inflationary pressures stemming by the upsurge of prices in international market will be the main challenge. in my view, commitment to the legal mandate of price stability is a non - negotiable objective.