PRESS RELEASE
Bank of Albania organises the 15th SEE Economic Research Workshop

On 6-7 December 2021, the Bank of Albania organizes the 15th SEE Economic Research Workshop. This workshop, organised for the 15th year in a raw, aims at providing a discussion forum on the research work and projects carried out by the Bank throughout 2021, as well as on the research works by the colleagues and researched from other central banks and prestigious universities in Albania and abroad. 

This year, the proceedings of the workshop are being organised virtually as well, due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that are still in place. During the two-day-workshop, 20 research papers will be presented and discussed, of which five are authored by the Bank of Albania’s staff members.

In his address to the workshop, Mr Sejko, the Governor of the Bank of Albania, highlighted that in 2020, discussions were focused on the modern monetary policy, and the role of the central bank’s balance sheet as a permanent instrument of monetary policy that can and should be broadly used to bolster aggregate demand. Meanwhile, the current monetary policy debate is concerned with the size and duration of the recent jump in inflation. 

The latest inflationary developments have divided academics and central bankers into two camps with diametrically opposed positions.  In one camp are those who think that the current inflation is a jeopardising phenomenon which risks leading to an inflationary situation, and consequently calling for an immediate intervention to subdue the balance sheet policies and the increase of interest rates. The other camp holds that current inflationary developments are a temporary phenomenon which has arisen from supply-side problems that reflect the negative effects of the pandemic. 

The Governor added that, in the light of the opposed views among economists, the research work to improve inflation models should continue, particularly as, after all these years of studies and research to understand the phenomenon of inflation, we are again going through doubts and mixed positions.

Mr Sejko highlighted that COVID-19, coupled with the issues it has caused and the restrictions taken to contain it, continues to dominate both our economic and social life and activity, and it has also certainly become an important part of the analysis and research work of the central bank.

However, recent developments show that the research agenda of the central banks have been enriched by the study of other risks, such as those related to climate change and environmental protection, demographic risks, digitalisation and digital currency, etc. These have been identified as big and long-term challenges to both the global economy and the authorities of every country, and in this context, the Bank of Albania has started to work on to establish the infrastructure for modelling and analysing these phenomena.

Concluding, Governor Sejko thanked the attendees for their participation, pointing out that their contribution serves to improve the work and conclusions of scientific research, making them more valuable to our institutions, particularly in this unprecedented time caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Governor Sejko: Welcome Remarks at the 15th SEE Economic Research Workshop
• Agenda of 15th South-Eastern European Economic Research Workshop