PRESS RELEASE
Governor Sejko meets the Executive Director of the World Bank for Albania, Mr. Matteo Bugamelli

On 25 October 2021, the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr Gent Sejko, welcomed the Executive Director of the World Bank for Albania, Mr Matteo Bugamelli, at the premises of the Bank of Albania, in the framework of his first official visit in Albania.

Also, the World Bank Country Manager for Albania, Mr Emanual Salinas, and senior officials of the Bank of Albania attended this meeting.

At the beginning, Governor Sejko thanked the World Bank Group for their collaboration during these years and for the joint initiatives undertaken in the areas of programmes and policies reforms. Mr Sejko valued the contribution and the continuous technical assistance provided by the World Bank to the Bank of Albania, mainly in the fields of banking supervision, payment systems, financial education and resolution.

In this meeting, the WB representatives expressed their interest on the macroeconomic developments in Albania over 2021. More specifically, discussions focused on expectations for the economic recovery, inflation, exchange rate, developments in the banking and financial sector, as well as the necessary orientation of economic policies for achieving the sustainable growth objectives in Albania.

The Governor provided in more details an overview of the impact of the pandemic on the economic performance, the expectations on economic recovery in the next period, and the latest development concerning the payment systems and resolution.

Regarding the developments in payment systems and financial education, the Governor discussed with the mission the latest outcomes related to the National Strategy for Retail Payments (2018-2023), as well as the work on drafting a “National Strategy for Financial Education.”

In addition, the Governor presented the work done by the Bank of Albania on drafting legal and regulatory acts aimed at transposing the European Union Directive “On Payment Account”, whose main purpose is to create a “basic account” that will enhance the financial inclusion of people.

Governor Sejko reiterated his appreciation especially as regards the contribution of the WB in the area of resolution and more concretely in the operationalisation of the regulatory framework approximated to that of the European Union. During the 2017-2021, 15 regulatory acts were drafted in accordance with the Law No 133/2016 “On the recovery and resolution of banks in the Republic of Albania,” showing thus the progress made towards the sublegal framework on resolution.

The World Bank representatives highlighted their optimism for the next collaboration with the Bank of Albania, mainly focused on the field of research, by means of which, the Bank of Albania aims to draft a National Strategy on Financial Education starting from 2021.

In conclusion, the interlocutors discussed the future projects of the Bank of Albania, which might be supported by the technical assistance provided by the World Bank.