PRESS RELEASE
Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr. Ardian Fullani, attended the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Vienna 2 Initiative

The Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr. Ardian Fullani, as a representative of the Eastern and Southeastern European countries, attended the Steering Committee of the Vienna 2 Initiative, held on 13th of January 2014, in Vienna, Austria.

The meeting discussed and agreed on the following Initiative's priorities for 2014:

• Promote an all-inclusive Banking Union, with a special focus on non-EU members in the Southeastern European (SEE) region;
• Closely monitor deleveraging and credit trends in the Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European (CESEE) region;
• Tackle the critical NPL problem in the CESEE countries through a coordinated multi-stakeholder effort;
• Increase credit enhancement and risk mitigation to support new credit in the context of still high risk perception in the CESEE region;
• Develop faster local funding sources in CESEE countries.

Governor Fullani stressed that the Bank of Albania remains committed to working for achieving the broader regional goal about the challenges facing the non-EU members, providing clear arguments to EU authorities about their treatment. In this framework, he encouraged the Vienna 2 Initiative and the EU authorities to continue, as soon as possible, with the presented agenda, in order to benefit from the willingness and commitment of all stakeholders in this process.