famous harry potter cannot exist without gringotts bank, which j. k. rowling describes as a multiple story white building with underground vaults that stretch to an unknown depth below the earth. economic and social development has constantly introduced innovations in the area of monetary systems, and also of banknotes and coins. the first banknotes were born as identical counter - values of the amounts of precious metals, mainly of gold, and they were explicitly guaranteed by the states and sovereigns for their gold parity. this characteristic is also found in the banknotes of the first period of the albanian state. the banknotes issued during this period are designated as “ gold franc ” implying their coverage with physical gold at a fixed and invariable rate. bis central bankers ’ speeches the further evolution of human societies and their economic and political systems introduced great innovations in the monetary area. the development of commercial banks, the credit system and central banks were crucial moments in the economic progress. central banks, as public institutions mandated to issue and circulate the currency, originate from earlier times. the first examples of central banks, closer to today ’ s perception of the central bank, date back to the 17th century in england or sweden. these institutions, originally with a clear commerce orientation, were responsible for the issue of currency and servicing the state needs with loans or lending for different purposes. the modern central bank originates from the 20th century, and the us fed served as a model for a number of other central banks. the attribution of the supervisory and regulatory functions of the banking system and the orientation of the central banks ’ mission in terms of economic objectives, like low inflation or stable economic growth, marks the starting point of central banks at their present form. the latter have played a primary role in the further progress of monetary systems. fixed - rate convertibility to physical metals was found problematic in the economic and monetary management. the great economic depression of 1929 – 1932 clearly showed that monetary policy, designed as an opportunity for public authorities to affect the amount of money in circulation and its price, or the interest rates, is a valuable instrument to mitigate economic fluctuations. beginning from the 20th century, the issued banknotes and coins lost their convertibility into gold at fixed and invariable rates. the issued currency, from this moment on also referred to as fiat money, derives its value from the state ’ s obligatory force. however, this is only half of the picture. the most important aspect determining the value of

, but a part of them are yet relevant. nevertheless, i think that some of them are towards addressing, while the other obstacles should become part of a critical assessment and their solution should be an integral part of our next work agenda. in more concrete terms, the first reason on the back of low lending rate is related to the high risk – both real and perceived – that investment in agriculture bears. however, i think this risk is being reduced. on the one hand, the improved support to agricultural production, the improved roots network and the consolidated trade chain for the supply of the inputs in the market, drive to the improvement of this sector ’ s business. on the other hand, promoting agritourism and supporting agribusiness, grow the value added chain and profitability of investment in agriculture. in this context, i would like to greet the albania agribusiness and tourism support facility 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches ( aatsf ), which includes the joint contribution of the albanian government and the european bank for reconstruction and development ( ebrd ). this facility provides a significant contribution, around eur 150 million, in both forms : direct loans and supportive guarantee for lending. to this end, by seeing the positive reaction that banking sector is displaying towards this scheme, with four banks already becoming part of it, i would like to encourage the other banks to adopt a more positive approach towards this sector. also, i would like to emphasise that global experience suggests the promotion of private insurance schemes to address risk reduction in agricultural. in future these schemes should become an integral part of this equation. the second reason on the back of low lending rate in agriculture is related to the fragmentation of agricultural land. this fragmentation limits the potential of the economy of scale, reduces the productivity of this sector, and turns it less attractive to the banking industry. in figures, referring to the data of the european commission, a typical albanian farm owns averagely 1. 2 ha land, compared to the average of around 14 ha in europe. at the same time, according to instat data, around 99. 6 % of agricultural businesses hire one to four employees. this ratio is notably higher than the average of other economy sectors. in this context, detaching from the negative emotions that may stem from the memory of the inefficient cooperatives during the communism period, i think that there is a need for higher awareness of the albanian farmer about building on partnerships and collective