In this regard, I would like to point out that the inclusion of information technology developments in financial services is increasingly drawing the attention of central banks, regulatory and supervisory authorities worldwide. Both international and domestic practices show that a comprehensive approach through collaboration considerably supports the achievement of 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  effective and optimal results. A concrete example of aligned efforts in this regard is exactly the one in the field of payments. In this field, the measures undertaken by the Government of Albania for the digitalisation of government services and recently for the draft-law “on billing and monitoring system of circulation”, which aims at increasing and strengthening the fiscalisation of the Albanian economy, appear to fully harmonise with the initiatives undertaken by the Bank of Albania, through the National Payment System Committee, for modernising the payment market and increasing financial inclusion. The Bank of Albania has worked on drafting a new legal and regulatory framework, which aims at promoting digitalisation in the area of payment services. The compilation of the draft-law “On payment services” is considered as the first and crucial step in the framework of reforming and digitalising the small-value payments. In concrete terms, this draft-law is seen to considerably encourage the competition in the market, by providing a crucial contribution to the establishment of low cost services and easily accessible by the large public.
Assuming that the three-month Libor rate will remain stable at 1.25%, average annual inflation is expected to hover between 0.9% and 1.6% in the next three years. For 2002, the National Bank still anticipates a growth rate of around 1%. The difficult situation of the world economy has had a marked influence on the development of business activity in Switzerland in the past few months. Following a decline in the third quarter 2001, the economy stabilised in the fourth quarter, and in the first quarter 2002 gross domestic product again rose somewhat. Notably exports and capital spending were on the decline during this period, while private and government consumption as well as the construction industry exerted a stabilising influence. On the whole, the development in the past six months fulfilled our expectations. We assume that the Swiss economy will grow extremely moderately and below its potential until mid-2002. Growth is likely to pick up perceptibly again only during the second half of 2002. Consumption will remain robust and strengthen economic activity. The actual upswing, however, should be triggered by higher exports and these, in turn, will depend on improved economic conditions worldwide. With a slight time lag, capital spending is also expected to grow markedly again. As already stated, we still believe that real economic activity should increase by around 1% in 2002. In 2003, growth should continue to approach its potential, thereby clearly exceeding this year's level.