Lorenzo Bini Smaghi: Private sector involvement – from (good) theory to (bad) practice Speech by Mr Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, at the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee, Berlin, 6 June 2011. *  *  *  The title of this first session of the conference is: “Policy responses within countries and inside the eurozone since 2010: an appraisal”. The topic is very broad and I cannot cover it in such a short time span unless I am selective and focus on some specific issues. I would like to consider mainly what has not gone as expected and the disappointments. This enables me to avoid talking, once again, about the ECB’s actions over the last 18 months. There are at least three things that have gone wrong. The first is that governments of the countries under stress waited too long before recognising that they needed financial assistance, and submitting their requests for support to the IMF and EU. This is true in all three cases, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. More often than not support programmes are delayed and within well integrated economic and financial regions such as the euro area these delays exacerbate market turmoil and create contagion. There is thus an externality in leaving it entirely to the country in question to turn to the IMF and EU for financial assistance.
Ardian Fullani: Analysis of economic and financial developments in Albania Speech by Mr Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the 24th Conference of Banking Supervisors from Central and Eastern Europe, Tirana, 12 April 2011. *  *  *  Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Allow me to first wish you a warm welcome in the 24th conference of banking supervisors from Central and Eastern Europe, which this time is taking place in Tirana. The Bank of Albania considers this forum as very important and a platform where participants may exchange their institutions experiences with each-other. This forum is a modern highway that allows for a rapid convergence of our supervision practices with the best standards. Let me now continue with a summarised analysis of economic and financial developments in Albania over the last two years, focusing on some concrete issues requiring more attention by the banking industry and the supervisory authority in the future. The Albanian economy was characterised by positive developments during the pre-crisis period. Annual economic growth was on average 6 per cent, with admirable and stable core macroeconomic indicators. Growth relied on a firm strengthening of internal demand components while funded by internal resources, mainly through rapidly increasing loans to the private sector and loans for investments. The banking sector, which dominates the domestic financial system, has also undergone a significant transformation in recent years. This is due to the entrance in the market of renowned European banking groups, expansion of banking infrastructure and upgrade of customer services.