The first obstacle is the relatively high level of the euroization in the Albanian financial 4/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  markets and economy. The high euroization renders the monetary policy pass-through more difficult, as it reduces its scope and exposes the private agents and the financial system to exchange rate volatility. Aware of this fact, the Bank of Albania, the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Albanian Financial Supervision Authority signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on increasing the use of the national currency (ALL) in the Albanian financial system and economy. In this (published) document, in the framework of the de-euroization objective, all the signatory institutions commit to identifying and undertaking actions within their area of competence. In this framework, the Bank of Albania identified a package of measures that envisage the implementation of differentiated rates for keeping the required reserve for banks’ liabilities in foreign currency and in the national currency. This measure is aimed at encouraging financial intermediation in lek through a relative reduction of its cost. Furthermore, banks will be required to comply with higher liquidity requirements for liabilities held in foreign currency. To raise the awareness of borrowers in foreign currency about the potential risks of this form of borrowing, banks will be required to explain by concrete examples foreign currency credit risks and provide borrowers with an alternative and comparable credit in lek. The proposals for these measures are discussed with the banking industry and the necessary amendments to the regulatory acts have been prepared.
Regarding the international reserve management, regulatory amendments have been made to clarify the function of international reserve management and the responsibilities of decisionmaking structures, as well as to broaden the range of investment instruments in compliance with the adopted policies. As at end-2017, the international reserve was around EUR 3 billion, sufficient to cover 6.7 months of imports of goods and services, and 178% of the short-term external debt. The yield on its investment was slightly negative, due to the low interest rates of euro in international markets. The economic and financial analyses and the decisions of the Bank of Albania are based on a broad research work within the institution. The Bank of Albania deems that the investment in human resources and in research techniques is always rewarding, taking into account the rapid structural changes in the economy and in the financial markets. The monetary policy transmission, the safeguarding of financial stability, the banking supervision and the coordination among these objectives were the main focus of working papers during 2017. The results are shared with national and international experts in scientific panels and are published in working papers. Also, the international experts have continued to assist to improve the macro-economic and statistical models, which support Bank of Albania projections. Public communication is an important pillar in Bank of Albania’s activity for enhancing the transparency and public confidence in the institution. The classic channels of communication are supplemented with digital platforms, such as Twitter (information), YouTube (video) and Flicker (photos).