PRESS RELEASE
Governor Sejko attends the 37th meeting of the Central Bank Governors Club of Central Asia, Black Sea Region and Balkan Countries

On 2- 4 April 2017, the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr Gent Sejko, attended the 37th Meeting of the Governors' Club of the Central Asia, Black Sea Region and Balkan Countries. This meeting took place in Antalya, Turkey and was attended by central bank representatives of all the member countries of the Club. It was hosted by the Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, Mr Murat Çetinkaya and Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Mehmet Simsek.

The discussions focused on the various challenges that central banks face nowadays in fulfilling their objective to maintain price stability and macroeconomic stability as well as on the identification of the mechanisms of macroeconomic and financial policies, and appropriate economic structures to increase the resistance to various shocks.

The meeting served as an excellent discussion platform, where central banks had the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences on these issues.

The Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr Gent Sejko, delivered a presentation on " The Optimal Policy Mix in the Current Environment: Lessons from the policy response to the crisis." Governor Sejko brought to the attention of the participants the fact that, despite being on the periphery of the global crisis, the Western Balkan countries felt its effects in forms such as economic activity slowdown, often accompanied by a series of structural issues.

Furthermore, Mr Sejko added that while there were discussions about the adequacy and effectiveness of central bank instruments for coping with the crisis, these instruments were able to avoid the further consequences and gradually create conditions for the return of the growth trend.

The Governor emphasized that, like a typical country of the Western Balkan, Albania stands at a similar development stage as its peers in the region and that the Albanian economy is now on a positive growth trend, which is expected to progressively improve.

In his presentation, Governor Sejko noted that we must draw the necessary lessons from each crisis in order to prevent the recurrence of possible mistakes: "Overcoming a crisis is as important as learning from it."

Concluding, Governor Sejko highlighted that through exercising its role in the economy both as a promoter and regulator, the Bank of Albania has provided the necessary contribution to supporting sustainable economic growth and guaranteeing macroeconomic stability.

About the Club

The Governors' Club was created in 1998, upon the initiative of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. Its members include: Albania (since 1998) Greece, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, China, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia and Belarus. The purpose of the Governors' Club is to strengthen the ties among central banks in the region and foster regional cooperation, through the exchange of best experiences and round tables organised at governor or expert level on current issues of concern.