gent sejko : statement - press conference with imf mission chief statement by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the joint press conference with the international monetary fund ( imf ) mission chief for albania minister of finance and economy, tirana, 10 october 2022. * * * dear media representatives, in the last two weeks, the bank of albania and the albanian government have been engaged in intensive discussions with the imf mission, which visited albania in the framework of the regular article iv consultations. discussion focused on current challenges for the albanian economy, as well as structural reforms that would enable a faster and more sustainable development of the country in the long term. allow me - first and foremost - to extend my thanks to the imf mission for the open share of views in addition to the fruitful and transparent discussions. overall, the bank of albania and the imf share similar opinions on the developmental challenges that lie ahead. the swift upsurge of prices in the global markets following the unprovoked military aggression of russia over ukraine, have triggered serious economic and social challenges for the economies and citizens of all countries around the world, including albania. inflation hit 8 % in august, increasing at a rapid pace and having a broad base. based on our judgement, we have previously stressed out that the high inflation is the main threat on the macroeconomic stability and both the stable and long - term growth of albania. this inflation corrodes the households'purchasing power, increases the uncertainty for the future in every cell of the economy, heightens the volatility of financial markets, and damages the long - term perspective of development. therefore, the primary focus of economic policies should be the undertaking of coordinated measures to mitigate the cost borne by inflation, and control and return it to its target, in the shortest time period and with the lowest cost possible. against this backdrop, the bank of albania has embarked on the gradual normalisation of the monetary policy. this normalisation is undertaken in parallel with all the other central banks, across the region and around the world, which are facing the same high inflation phenomenon. it engenders a progressive raise of the key interest rate, by slowly changing the nature of the monetary policy stance from the current position, which has been stimulating, towards a more neutral position, which provides a more sustainable support for the long - term growth of albania. during the discussions of the past two weeks, we have gladly observed

the albanian authorities have engaged in comprehensive reforms of the property rights, of the tax regime, of the electricity sector, of the general infrastructure, and remain engaged in the fight against informality. the most recent measure in this regard is a banking sector regulation that aims to put an end to the practice of lending through uncertified company balance sheets. further, to enhance efficiency and tackle corruption and informality, a determined drive to improve the functioning of the public administration, which broadly speaking encompasses also the judicial system reform, has been undertaken. in order to increase economic stability and to improve financial resilience, we have initiated a wide ranging set of reforms. to that end, the government has improved its public finance management procedures, has adopted a fiscal responsibility framework, and has undertaken measures to reduce debt. the bank of albania has strived to model itself after the ecb. its professionalism has increased while its independence, transparency and credibility have all improved. through a joint effort of institutional stakeholders, we have 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches managed to reform the financial supervisory authority and enhance the role of the deposit insurance authority. together with the albanian government, we have implemented a comprehensive npl resolution strategy, which has already brought encouraging results, we have approved a bank resolution law and we have jointly designed a de - euroization strategy, aimed at tackling financial vulnerabilities, improving the transmission mechanism and intensifying the use of the domestic currency. we have also established a new interinstitutional financial stability advisory group, vested with coordination powers on systemically - important stability – related issues. in order to further develop financial markets, the albanian authorities have accelerated the development of capital markets, through the establishment of the albanian stock exchange, the licensing and functioning of several investment and asset management funds, the encouragement of the on - going consolidation in the bank and non - bank financial institutions, the tax encouragement of private pension schemes, the on - going efforts to improve the functioning of secondary markets for government papers, etc. however, i am convinced the sharing regional experience would result in an additional impetus to the process. furthermore, regional solutions can be sought to common problems. this brings me to my last point. improving regional cooperation coordination and cooperation cannot run standalone in an ever integrated and intertwined world. the same concept applies to our region, where policy initiatives, aimed at achieving a common objective, should be implemented jointly. let me highlight a few potential cooperation areas : first,