alexey zabotkin : monetary policy guidelines for 2022 – 2024 speech by mr alexey zabotkin, deputy governor of the bank of russia, at the press conference on monetary policy guidelines for 2022 – 2024, moscow, 2 september 2021. * * * good afternoon, at the beginning of september, we usually release the first draft of the bank of russia ’ s strategic document on monetary policy — the monetary policy guidelines for the next three years. today ’ s event is held to present this document. monetary policy goals and principles the goal of monetary policy is to maintain price stability. the bank of russia implements its monetary policy within the inflation targeting regime, seeking to ensure the annual growth rate of the consumer price index of around 4 %. we influence the economy primarily through money market rates keeping them close to the key rate. the effect of monetary policy and key rate decisions on the economy and price movements has a significant time lag. therefore, when making our decisions, we always rely on the comprehensive analysis of the current situation and the medium - term macroeconomic forecast. moreover, it is crucial to take into account the balance of risks in the baseline forecast and other possible developments of the situation. according to economists, this is what is called a robust policy. another important instrument of our policy is communication. we adhere to the principle of communication transparency to implement our monetary policy efficiently. we believe it essential for financial market participants, businesses, and households to understand how our policy responds to changes in the economy and how we ensure price stability. to this end, beginning from april 2021, the bank of russia publishes the projected path of the key rate as one of the indicators of its medium - term forecast. we have also systematised and released the materials about the model - based approaches we apply to build our forecasts. people ’ s confidence in the monetary policy pursued is critical to anchor inflation expectations, reduce the inflation risk premium, and maintain interest rates at a moderate level. the monetary policy guidelines we present annually promote this confidence. economic situation in 2020 – 2021 for the second consecutive year, the global economy has been developing in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. the main problem a year ago was plummeting aggregate demand, whereas the major challenge since the beginning of this year has been increasingly higher inflationary pressure. russia is no exception. after the downturn of last year, our economy has swiftly recovered. the rebound was faster than many expected. russia ’ s

gent sejko : albania's economic and financial developments in 2018 address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, presenting the annual report 2017 to the assembly of the republic of albania, tirana, 8 may 2019. * * * honourable speaker, honourable members of parliament, the bank of albania pays particular attention to fostering institutional relations with the assembly of the republic of albania, based on the spirit of accountability and transparency, and nourished by a constant and reciprocal dialogue. in this light, i thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to present in a plenary session to the assembly, the main conclusions of the annual report of the bank of albania. let me start by emphasising that the bank of albania has made progress with regard to all the three underlying aspects of our work : institutional objectives and duties set out in the legal and sublegal framework ; internal objectives set out in our medium - term development strategy ; and, recommendations left by the assembly of the republic of albania in the resolution “ on the assessment of the activity of the bank of albania for 2017 ”. the bank of albania estimates that, in 2018, the albanian economy and financial system made progress. economic activity and employment continued to expand, wages and domestic inflationary pressures trended upward, main banking sector ’ s soundness indicators improved, and a series of indicators of domestic and external economic balances strengthened. let me present a few indicators to illustrate this. according to instat data, the pace of economic growth accelerated to 4. 1 % in 2018. economic growth was broad based ; it reflected positive contributions from the expansion of households ’ consumption, enterprises ’ investments, and exports. according to instat data, employment in the economy rose by 1. 6 %, whereas the unemployment rate at the end of the year fell to 12. 3 % from 13. 4 % a year earlier. the external position of the economy improved : the current account deficit declined at 6. 7 % of the gdp in 2018, and the indicators of external debt stability strengthened. budget deficit and public debt continued on a downward trend, reflecting the consolidation path of the fiscal policy, the economic growth and the exchange rate appreciation. the main indicators of banking sector soundness – in particular liquidity, profitability and capitalisation – remained at satisfactory levels. this dynamics of developments reflects, to a significant extent, the effect of policies, measures and instruments the bank of albania has adopted on continuous basis. in the