PRESS RELEASE
Governor Sejko attends IMF and WB Spring Meetings 2016 in Washington D.C.

On 15-17 April 2016, Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, attended the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WB) in Washington D.C., USA.

Each year, the Spring Meetings bring together central bankers, ministers of finance of member states and senior officials of international financial institutions.

As expected, the prevailing issue in the meetings was the further recovery of the global economy. A press release by the International Monetary and Financial Committee highlighted that "the global economy continues to expand modestly".  In relation to the assessment made in October 2015, the Fund finds that "downside risks to the global economic outlook have increased".

Therefore, the Committee recommends that stimulation of growth and safeguarding financial stability dictates the need for implementing growth-friendly fiscal policies, continuing with the accommodative monetary policy, advancing structural reforms including financial reforms, and expanding and deepening global cooperation.
 
The joint Albanian delegation was represented by Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, and Mr Erjon Luçi, Deputy Finance Minister.

During the IMF-WB Spring Meetings 2016, Governor Sejko held several important meetings with prominent personalities of international finance, and senior representatives, among others, from the IMF: Carlo Cottarelli, Executive Director for Albania; Mr Mr Poul Thompsen, Director of the European Department; from the WB Group:  Mr Cyrill Myller, Vice President, Europe and Central Asia Region, Ms Ellen Goldstein, Country Director for Southeast Europe, Europe and Central Asia.

Another important meeting was the one with the ministers of finance and central bank governors of our constituency represented by Pier Carlo Padoan, the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance. In addition to Italy, Albania is part of a constituency together with Greece, Portugal, Malta, and San Marino.

In the meetings, Governor Sejko informed the participants on the latest development in the Albanian economy, the challenges and the outlook of economic growth, as well as banking sector developments.

The Governor pointed out that economic growth in Albania is on a positive development trajectory. Economic growth is expected to improve and its main economic balances will consolidate in the next years. In relation to the latest developments on consumer prices, Governor Sejko reiterated the strong impact from the global conjunctures. He said that, in Bank of Albania's opinion, the current performance of inflation is temporary and will soon return to within the aimed levels.
About the situation of the banking system in Albania, Governor Sejko underlined that the Bank of Albania has engaged seriously in addressing the issue non-performing loans. A carefully though plan of actions has been drafted with a view to reducing them, including a series of legal, fiscal and regulatory improvements. The implementation of this plan helped reduce the level of non-performing loan down to 18.2 % at the end of 2015.

Another important issue that was discussed in the meetings was about boosting credit and measures supported by the accommodative monetary policy, whose effects were reflected in lower credit prices across all the segments of the financial market in Albania.

On their side, the international interlocutors commended the work of the Bank of Albania on safeguarding the country's macroeconomic and financial stability. In their view, the Bank of Albania is a serious and professional partner in performing its duties, and affirmed their readiness to continue and enhance the cooperation with the Bank of Albania.

The delegation of the Bank of Albania met with several senior representatives of central banks, among them, with Mr Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank. In the meeting with Mr Weidmann, the Bank of Albania stated its appreciation for the insofar cooperation with the Deutsche Bundesbank as one of the main providers of technical assistance and expertise for the Bank of Albania. They also discussed about advancing the mutual cooperation in the form of a potential twinning project, for which President Weidmann confirmed his commitment.

In addition, Governor Sejko participated in the plenary session of the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Executive Forum organised by the World Bank for policy makers and senior officials.

Subsequent to the meetings, Governor Sejko will appear in an interview with the Voice of America on 19 April 2016, at 18:00.