Banking services should be provided in accordance with the clients’ financial literacy, in any case highlighting, the benefits and the risks that customers may incur as they use your bank products. In the context of its role as the supervisory and regulatory authority of banking operations, the Bank of Albania will continue to carefully monitor and address the challenges facing this  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  activity. Our regulatory framework and supervisory and operational activities will be adapted to provide all the necessary support for the banking activity to be safe and have multiple benefits for the banking industry, customers, and the economy in general. The professional and continuous communication with you will be at the basis of our activity, to identify together the best solutions that address your needs and those of other interest groups. Dear bank managers, In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention one of the biggest lessons learned from the crisis of the latest global financial system, which I think remains applicable for Albania: concentration on short-term time horizons is counterproductive to both individual financial institutions that engage in them, and the overall financial system and economy of a country. In this context, I invite you all to be farsighted in your analyses and decision-making processes with regard to the future of the economy of Albania and its banking industry.
Ardian Fullani: Achievements and challenges facing the Albanian banking sector Address by Mr Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the year-end event with the Albanian Association of Banks, Tirana, 20 December 2012. *  *  *  Dear bank managers, At the end of this calendar and financial year, I take this opportunity to share with you some of the achievements and challenges facing the banking sector, confident that they will serve to guide our actions in the future. As expected, the year 2012 was a very challenging year for the financial and economic activity of the country and of various economic agents. Very likely, this year’s economic growth will remain positive, but significantly lower than last year. This economic performance is dictated by the weakening of the fiscal and monetary stimuli, as well as the slowdown of private investment and consumption. The slowdown in the latter is, however, accompanied by a reduction of imports. On the other hand, foreign demand has supported higher growth of exports, especially of energy products. This has led to an improved trade balance during 2012, hence marking a decrease in the deficit-to-GDP ratio. The impact of the global economic crisis continues to be present and its prospects to overcome it in 2013 remains our hope, which is not supported by the expectations of international financial institutions and public authorities, especially with regard to the economic situation in the euro area. During 2012, the banking sector marked a positive financial result, overall.