PRESS RELEASE
Governor Sejko attends the summit of countries of the region in Becici, Montenegro, on ''Regional financial stability in a new global environment''

On 16 June 2017, Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, attended the annual summit of the region's countries held in Becici, Montenegro. This summit was attended by governors of central banks of Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and deputy governors of the central banks of Kosovo and Slovenia as well as ministers of finance and tax directors from the region.

This year's summit, on 'Regional financial stability in a new global environment', discussed the latest developments in the economies of the region and the steps required to guarantee a sustainable economic growth.

The Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr Gent Sejko was invited to address the summit, focusing on monetary policy discussions pursued by the central banks of the region, as well as the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB).

In his speech, Governor Sejko stressed that the monetary policy stance in the countries of the region is also influenced somehow by the monetary policy stance pursued by central banks such as the Fed and the ECB.

Governor Sejko added that the monetary policy pursued by these two central banks could impact countries that have a dollarized or euroized financial system affecting thus the domestic lending, financial conditions, balance sheets and exchange rates.

He underlined that the harmonization of the monetary policy of the region's countries with the policy followed by the ECB is of particular importance for their economy, taking into account the exposure of the regions' countries through trade exchanges with the main partners in euro area and European banks.

Then Governor Sejko discussed the impacts in Albania and stated that the ECB monetary policy stance is of particular importance to our economy as well as to the countries of the region, as it influences the monetary conditions and the financial system, given our country's exposure to the dollar and euro currency.

Regarding the Fed's policy impact in our country, Governor Sejko considered it to be indirect and added that the monetary policy tightening by Fed would not directly affect Albania, besides the usual negative impacts on Fuel prices and Raw materials.

Also, Governor Sejko acquainted the participants with the plan drawn up by the Bank of Albania together with other authorities in the country, to reduce the use of the euro currency and to increase the use of domestic currency in the Albanian economy, in order to reduce Exposure to foreign currencies and to make the financial system more resilient.

Concluding, Governor Sejko answered the questions of the participants in this summit.