fadilj bajrami : continued cooperation with central banks of the western balkans address by mr fadilj bajrami, vice governor of the national bank of the republic of macedonia, on the occasion of the first programme steering committee meeting of the ecb regional cooperation programme with central banks in the western balkans, tirana, 17 april 2014. * * * honorable governor fullani, honorable governor hamza, dear mr. sturm, dear mr. rumbold, representatives of central banks, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor and pleasure to be here with you in tirana on the occasion of the first meeting of the steering committee for the joint cooperation project between the european central bank and the national central banks of the eurosystem, and the central banks of the western balkans. as my colleagues have already noted, most of the activities of the project will be devoted to identifying the needs of the central banks of albania and kosovo in the process of their joining the european system of central banks, by strengthening their capacities and compliance with the standards of the central banking in the eu. last year, the national bank of the republic of macedonia successfully implemented such a project in cooperation with the ecb and the eurosystem. the project implementation has clearly identified the changes that the nbrm should focus on during its preparations for accession to the european system of central banks. namely, the final report on the needs analysis programme for the national bank of the republic of macedonia contained 138 recommendations addressing the gaps in terms of the eu benchmarks established in 11 areas of central banking. it is my pleasure to point out that some of them have already been implemented, and some of them have been incorporated in the strategic plan of the nbrm, that is in the national bank ’ s plan of activities for this year. however, the overall implementation of the recommendations will require additional technical assistance in terms of experience and knowledge of the ecb and the national central banks of the eu. therefore, the inclusion of the nbrm in this regional project, which aims to facilitate the preparations for the implementation of the recommendations we received in the report on the needs analysis programme for the nbrm, by establishing a plan for their implementation, is very important. it will be the basis for the preparation and the implementation of a subsequent project, as well as the basis for further planning and promotion of the bilateral cooperation with the central banks with which the nbrm already has a traditional cooperation, but also for

bank of japan ’ s july report of recent economic and financial developments1 bank of japan, communication, 19 july 2000. * * * the bank ’ s view2 japan ’ s economy is recovering gradually, with corporate profits and business fixed investment continuing to increase. with regard to exogenous demand, net exports ( real exports minus real imports ) continue to follow a moderate upward trend due to steady developments in overseas economies, and public investment is picking up reflecting the progress in the implementation of the supplementary budget for fiscal 1999. as regards domestic private demand, business fixed investment is increasing. the recovery in private consumption continues to be weak as a whole through lack of notable improvements in employment and income conditions, although there are somewhat positive signs in some indicators. housing investment is mostly unchanged. reflecting such developments in final demand, industrial production is increasing. corporate profits and sentiment continue to improve, and the number of firms that take positive action, such as increasing the amount of fixed investment, is increasing, especially in high - growth sectors. income conditions of households still remain severe, but the decreases in the number of employees and in wages are slowing, while regular and overtime payments as well as new job offers are increasing in line with the recovery in corporate activities. as for the outlook, public investment is likely to start decreasing in the near future, but net exports are expected to continue increasing gradually, reflecting the expansion in overseas economies. in the corporate sector, firms still strongly feel that they have excess equipment and that they should reduce their debts to restore financial soundness. however, it is very likely that fixed investment in highgrowth sectors, including those related with information technology services, will increase as corporate profits continue to recover. moreover, an improvement in corporate profits will increase household income and this in turn is expected to boost private consumption. however, the pace of recovery in household income will be modest for the time being, since firms ’ perceptions of excess employment still persist, and thus significant changes have not been observed in their efforts to reduce personnel expenses. overall, the economy is likely to recover gradually led mainly by business fixed investment, unless there are major adverse external shocks. in addition, the favourable financial environment created partly by the bank ’ s monetary easing is expected to continue underpinning the economy. with regard to prices, import prices are decreasing slightly, reflecting a temporary decline in international commodity prices such as crude oil prices. domestic wholesale prices, notwithstanding the fall in prices of electric machinery, are unchanged mainly due to the rise