BANK OF ALBANIA

PRESS RELEASE
Project Greenback 2.0 officially launched in Albania, a recipient country for remittances

Publication date: 21.03.2018

 

On 21 March 2018, Project Greenback 2.0 was officially launched at the Bank of Albania. This project, which is one of the main components of the SECO-funded Remittances and Payments Program (RPP) in Albania, is a World Bank initiative for promoting accessible channels and cost-effective payment instruments for sending and receiving remittances. The World Bank, in partnership with the Bank of Albania, has chosen Berat as a Champion City for the Project Greenback 2.0.

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The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Albania, Ms Elisabeta Gjoni, emphasized in her opening remarks the importance of remittances both at the macro level for the Albanian economy and at the micro level for the Albanian families. She also pointed out the contribution of remittances to consumption, as these flows are estimated to finance more than one third of Albanian households, which channel these funds to provide for necessary goods, education, and healthcare and, to a lesser extent, for investment purposes.  “... Today remittances are gaining special attention at an international level in the context of sustainable economic development. Furthermore, given that they are particularly important for the Albanian economy, we invite everyone to continue the fruitful cooperation we have had so far, in order to successfully achieve the objectives of this project” Ms  Gjoni said. 

In terms of the potential of remittances, Deputy Governor Gjoni emphasized the need for a more active participation of the banking and financial sectors in this aspect, considering a potential expansion of their activities. In addition, Ms Gjoni highlighted the need to reduce the cost of remittance flows, which is much higher than the objectives set by international organizations (G8, G20, United Nations, World Bank) and the their level in other countries of the region. Ms Gjoni thanked the World Bank for the effective cooperation in the context of payment systems for a series of concrete projects and SECO for financing specific projects, as well as the Swiss Ambassador to Albania for his active support in Bank of Albania projects.  

"Enhancing financial literacy and improving financial services for both senders and recipients, this program will contribute to increasing the efficiency and functioning of the Albanian financial market and economy", said H.E. Swiss Ambassador to the Republic of Albania, Mr Christoph Graf, in his speech. "Total success, however, may be only achieved if all the country’s institutions and authorities are involved, together with local institutions”, Ambassador Graf added.

Ms Johanna Jaeger of the World Bank also highlighted the importance of remittances on the economy and focused on the value of these incomes for the receiving households in terms of welfare and the elimination of social inequality. Also, Ms Jaeger highlighted the need to reduce costs for these remittances to Albania, which are estimated to be significant to the sender. In this context, the implementation of the Project Greenback 2.0 in Albania is considered as extremely important. 

The Senior Financial Sector Specialist at the World Bank,  Ms Maria Do Ceu Da Silva Pereira, explained in her presentation that remittances are a significant and important aspect of payment systems and that the World Bank through the RPP focused on market diagnostics where this project is active  through international standard setting to measure the efficiency of such systems and through technical assistance for the legal framework, infrastructure and financial education for the end client, which includes Project Greenback 2.0. This Project’s goal is lowering the cost of remittances and formalizing this service in order to ensure that the income from remittances translates into added value for the households and the national economy.

Ms Edlira Dashi, financial education specialist at the World Bank, presented the preliminary findings of a focus group series of discussions with migrants from Berat, who had returned to their home town during the winter holidays. The focus group aimed to explore further the attitudes of Albanian migrants towards remittance channels, their awareness in terms of available financial services, the usage of the various financial products and services and the challenges they face to send money home. This study is only the first step towards a comprehensive series of activities planned to take place in the context of Project Greenback 2.0, which will then inform on the next steps of enhancing the financial education of remittance senders and recipients in Albania.