elisabeta gjoni : role of money in wartime opening remarks by ms elisabeta gjoni, first deputy governor of the bank of albania, at the second conference of the museum of the bank of albania, tirana, 20 september 2018. * * * dear guests, participants, researchers, academics, numismatists, collectors, students, welcome to the bank of albania! it is a special pleasure for me to open the proceedings of the second conference of the museum of the bank of albania on “ role of money in wartime ”. the rich collection of coins and banknotes and other items exhibited in our museum becomes more meaningful when supported by the historic background of the period of the country of issue. the organisation of this conference, an annual one, contributes to the both the historic and educational role of the museum. this conference is also an excellent opportunity to share experiences with representatives of the main institutions of culture in albania and museums of central banks and other prominent foreign institutions in this field. i am happy to see in this room both old and new collaborators, whom we wish to be “ permanent consultants ” of the bank of albania. we aim to create and cultivate a solid and productive relationship with the best experts in numismatics, museology, cultural heritage and research. dear participants, today ’ s presentations will address the mutual, complicated and multi - dimensional relation between money and war. wars have had an impact on the economy and development of human kind from the birth of civilisations to modern times. meanwhile, in the words of the socrates, the greek philosopher, “ all wars are fought for money ”. we heard some good examples that illustrate this relation in last year ’ s conference. we heard from prof. picard about king monunius, who is known thanks to the respective coin. he had it minted for the sole purpose of raising a strong army, convinced that his might rested with the army. from prof. egro, we learned that mahmut pashe bushatlliu and ali pashe tepelena tried to introduce their coins and banknotes, independently from the ottoman empire, not for financial purposes but as a token of rebellion or an attempt to break away from the empire. later on, in ww1, we see the banknotes of the republic of korca, which are a rare phenomenon not only in terms of numismatics, but also a materialisation of the early issues as a result of the war

is low and expected to remain low and subject to limited variations over the medium term, the prices of financial assets incorporate lower inflation risk premia, by contrast with a situation of high or uncertain inflation. as the inflation risk premium becomes relatively less important as a determinant of financial prices, other factors such as credit risk can take on a larger role in the price formation mechanism. ultimately, this results in a more efficient allocation of financial resources. in the run - up to stage three of emu, the governments of the european union also, where necessary, made efforts to reduce their deficits and their debt so as to bring them into line with the requirements specified by the maastricht treaty. as was intended by the drafters of the treaty, this development contributed to achieving sounder fiscal policies, which would be more conducive to economic growth over the medium term and which would make it possible for automatic fiscal stabilisers to work more effectively when needed. a further effect of the reduction in public deficits and debt, all other things being equal, is the freeing of financial resources for use by the private sector. this reduces hindrances to the development of financial markets for private borrowers such as the corporate bond market. a final item in this short list of the broad economic trends shaping the future of financial markets in the euro area is the phenomenon of population ageing. taken together with the liberalisation of financial markets, over the coming years population ageing will lead to further demand for long - term investment instruments on the part of rapidly developing pension funds, along the lines, for instance, of what we are already beginning to see in the united kingdom. as borrowers strive to meet the increased demand for investment instruments, this is likely to provide a further impetus to the development of a wide range of suited financial instruments available to pension funds, and more generally to savers at the end of the intermediation chain. having identified broad economic trends, which all seem to point in the direction of a wider role for financial markets in the euro area over the coming years, i should like today to discuss what has actually happened so far and consider what challenges lie ahead. i shall first consider the degree of development of the various segments of financial markets in the euro area, so as to assess whether and, if so, why some segments are less developed than others, at area - wide level. i will then move on to consider, more generally, the progress made in the