PRESS RELEASE
Governor Sejko attends IMF and WB Spring Meetings 2017 in Washington D.C.

On 21-23 April 2017, 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.

Albania was represented in the Spring Meetings 2017 by a joint delegation of the Bank of Albania represented by Governor Gent Sejko, the First Deputy Governor, Ms Elisabeta Gjoni and other BoA senior officials, and the Ministry of Finance, represented by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Erjon Luçi and other MoF officials.

Each year, the Spring Meetings bring together central bank governors, 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. The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) Communiqué highlights that 'global economic recovery is gaining momentum, commodity prices have firmed up, and deflation risks are receding. While the outlook is improving, growth is still modest and subject to heightened political and policy uncertainties'.

The Committee remains committed to achieving strong, sustainable, balanced, inclusive and job-rich growth. To this end, it recommends the continuation of the accommodative monetary policy, the implementation of growth-friendly fiscal policies, tailored, prioritized, and sequenced structural reforms, safeguarding financial stability, as well as a more inclusive global economy.

During the IMF-WB Spring Meetings, Governor Sejko had several important meetings with prominent personalities of international finance. Amongst others, from the IMF: Mr Tao Zhang, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF; Mr Carlo Cottarelli, Executive Director for Albania at the IMF; Mr Poul Thompsen, Director of the European Department at the IMF; Ms Anita Tuladhar, IMF Mission Chief for Albania; and Mr Dong He, Deputy Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department. From the World Bank Group: Mr Cyril Myller, Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, Mr Patrizio Pagano, Executive Director for Albania at the WB; Ms Ellen Goldstein, Country Director and Regional Coordinator for South-eastern Europe; Marcelo Giugale, Adviser at the WB; etc.

Governor Sejko, in all the above-mentioned meetings, informed the interlocutors on the latest developments in the Albanian economy, focusing on the outlook of economic growth, as well as on banking sector developments in Albania.

He highlighted 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 years ahead. In relation to the latest developments on consumer prices, Mr Sejko stressed that the inflation performance at actual values is returning gradually to target.

Regarding the situation of the banking system in Albania, Governor Sejko underlined that addressing the issue of non-performing loans has been one of the commitments of the Bank of Albania, accompanied with a carefully prepared action plan for their reduction. The implementation of this plan helped reduce the level of non-performing loans down to around 18%.

Aslo, during the meetings were discussed the measures undertaken by the Bank of Albania, supported by the accommodative monetary policy, in order to boost lending in Albania. The Governor highlighted that these measures have given their effect by contributing to the decrease of credit price across all the segments of the Albanian financial market.

Another important issue was the commitment of the Bank of Albania to cooperate with other institutions in Albania so as to increase the use of the domestic currency in the Albanian economy. Governor Sejko briefed the senior international officials on the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Bank of Albania, the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Supervision Authority, whose main aim is to improve the efficiency of the monetary policy and reduce the risks to financial stability and fiscal policy.

During these meetings, the international interlocutors commended the work of the Bank of Albania on safeguarding the country's macroeconomic and financial stability. They find in the Bank of Albania a serious and professional partner, in fulfilling its tasks. They expressed the readiness to further continue the collaboration and the technical assistance for our institution.

Furthermore, the senior international officials highlighted that the banking system in Albania is consolidated. However, foreign investments should be the focus of the policies in order to have a long-term, sound and stable financial system. Also, another element of particular importance for the economy, underlined during their discussions, was the continuation of the reforms and the political stability of the country.

During the stay in Washington D.C., the delegation of the Bank of Albania met with representatives of various central banks, amongst others, they met with senior executives of De Nederlandsche Bank and the National Bank of Moldavia. During these meetings, they appraised the current bilateral relations and discussed on enhancing mutual collaboration in the future.

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

Another activity was ' The Postcard Series' presentations by IMF member countries, where the First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Albania, Ms Elisabeta Gjoni delivered a presentation on 'Strengthening central bank operations'.