PRESS RELEASE
Governor Sejko attends the 38th Meeting of the Governors' Club of Central Asia, Black Sea Region and Balkan countries

On 28-29 September 2017, the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr Gent Sejko, attended the 38^th Meeting of the central bank Governors' Club of Central Asia, Black Sea Region and Balkan Countries. The meeting was hosted by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and was chaired by Governor Elvira Nabiullina. The meeting was attended by central bank governors from 24 member countries of the Club.

Topics discussed at the meeting focused on: financial technologies, global trends and regulation approaches; as well as ECB and the BoE QE tapering and its potential implications on the economies of the Club's member countries.

The discussants shared their experiences and talked about challenges the central banks are currently facing, especially from the perspective of safeguarding financial stability, as a key element of central bank activity.

Governor Sejko delivered a short presentation on economic and financial developments in Albania, and potential spillovers from ECB's monetary policy normalisation.

He said that monetary normalisation in Europe is not expected to have adverse effects on Albania. On the contrary, these effects may be positive, taking into account the extent of synchronisation BoA's monetary policy with ECB's monetary policy, as well as the current level of Albania's integration with European markets. Governor Sejko highlighted that the Bank of Albania stands ready to take all the necessary measures, and contribute to supporting sustainable economic growth and guaranteeing macroeconomic stability.

With regard to technology development, the Governor presented an overview of the measures Albania has taken toward innovation and digitalisation. Albeit introduced somewhat late, in recent years fast progress has been made, based on the strategy of the Government of Albania to digitalise government services and introduce e-governance.

He added that the banking system is offering innovative products, in line with the latest developments in the field of banking services. From the regulatory perspective, the Bank of Albania is showing particular attention to the legal framework and infrastructure, to support this process. To illustrate this point, the Governor spoke about the National Payment System Committee, which promotes inter-institutional cooperation and contributes to enhanced security, stability, and efficiency in the national payment systems in Albania.

About the Club

The Central Bank Governors' Club of the Central Asia, Black Sea Region and Balkan Countries was established 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 and Slovenia. 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.