the reduction of exposure, i will bring an example from albania. last year, the largest eu - based bank operating in our country decided to contribute to meeting the group ’ s required capitalization levels through reducing its exposure to the albanian government securities by almost 3 % of the gdp, within a very short period of time. apparently, a more coordinated approach to implementing these requirements, implying the presence of non - eu host countries at an early stage of macroprudential decision making at the eu level, would contribute to a less painful absorption of the subsequent effects in our countries ’ financial systems. to address the pressing issues facing home and host country relations in this context, the vienna initiative was relaunched as “ the vienna initiative ii ”. it focuses on fostering homehost authority coordination to support stable cross - border banking, and help protect the economy from disorderly deleveraging. as a member of the steering committee of the vienna initiative ii, i have underlined the need for a more effective home - host coordination, promoting albania ’ s position as a host country. given the geographical proximity and high exposure to recent developments in the eu bis central bankers ’ speeches financial markets, i am confident that our countries would significantly benefit from developing a regional perspective on risks and opportunities arising from such developments, and major supervisory reforms at the regional level. in this context, albania ’ s membership in the steering committee of the vienna initiative, and the working group on banking union and emerging europe is a solid foundation to build upon and synthesize the common concerns of our countries vis - a - vis eu authorities. allow me now to summarize the insofar position of the bank of albania, articulated in the framework of the vienna initiative ii, and propose a number of discussion topics, which i am confident will lead to a fruitful exchange of views today. the bank of albania has called for effective mechanisms to restore healthy lending to the economies of non - eu countries, where systemic subsidiaries of eu banking groups operate. in this context, eu authorities and eu banking groups should provide their active contribution. this is not merely a short - term objective, but rather an important anchor for the region ’ s economic recovery with significant effects on both the economies of the region and the banking groups, which have declared their commitment to our region. we are currently witnessing a period of massive reforms in the eu supervisory architecture, with the establishment of the banking union. these reforms correspond to the reactivation of the vienna initiative ii, hence

gent sejko : albania's economic and financial developments in 2023 address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, to the assembly of the republic of albania presenting the annual report of the bank of albania for 2023, tirana, 18 july 2024. * * * honourable speaker, honourable members of parliament, allow me at the beginning of the regular presentation of the bank of albania annual report for 2023, to re - affirm the high consideration that the bank of albania and personally have regarding accountability and the dialogue with parliament. traditionally, this presentation aims to present to the assembly a complete and faithful overview of our opinion on economic and financial developments over the past year, the measures taken by the bank of albania in fulfilling its legal mission and duties, and to provide an assessment of their impact. dear members of parliament, in 2023, albanian economy has consolidated the positive development trends, both in terms of growth and improving the country's main economic and financial balances. despite a difficult and challenging external environment, the volume of economic activity in albania continued to grow, generating higher income for albanian businesses and households. according to instat data, the volume of economic activity in albania grew by 3. 5 % over the past year. in parallel, employment and average wage in private sector rose by 2. 2 % and 13 %, respectively, while unemployment rate fell to the new historical minimum of 10. 7 %. the expansion in family consumption, private investments and in the export of tourism services underpinned the economic growth, while fiscal policy maintained the consolidation trend. from the macroeconomic perspective, economic growth reflected the sound financial balance sheets of private sector, the gradual improvement in businesses and households'confidence, the expansion in bank credit, inflation coming down, and the rapid growth in the income from tourism. the surge in the demand for goods and services did not harm the downward trend of inflation. in contrary, over 2023, this indicator fell gradually to 4 % as at end of 2023, from 7. 4 % at the beginning of year. the decline in inflation in international markets, the strengthening of the exchange rate, and the normalisation of the monetary policy stance affected this performance. the decline in inflation and its progressive approach towards the target helped preserving the value of households'income and savings, supported the smooth functioning of financial markets and backed the strengthening of macroeconomic stability in albania. in parallel, the domestic and external balances of our