In this light, first and foremost, in the health context, vaccination, and hopefully, the relevant cures under progress, will turn into powerful instruments in curtailing the effects of the pandemic on both economy and finance. The good news is that the analyses carried out in our institution indicate that the economic rebound, the achievement of prices objective and the preservation of the financial stability are being materialised accordingly to the optimistic forecasts of the Bank of Albania. The continuation of simulating monetary and fiscal policies has: guaranteed both the monetary and financial stability of Albania; bolstered lending at low cost to the economic activity, and eased the burden that the prolongation of pandemic imposed on private sector and households. The crucial role that mas media has played in meticulously detailing and convening the policy message to the audience for enhancing its awareness, has supported and benefited to the prudential policy making. The pandemic and restrictions in place to contain it posed a barrier to public communication by increasing the distance with institutions, and above all, they turned into the most pressing issues of our time. In this view, I take this opportunity to thank all the journalists (particularly those covering economic issues), who through the professional commitment and integrity assisted the public at large to acquire the decision making of monetary and fiscal authorities throughout this unprecedented situation. The professionalism in making and conveying the news and economic analysis were a valuable and indispensable support to marinating price and financial stability.
To illustrate this point, I want to focus on three key markets for the SNB that have experienced major changes: the goods and services market, where digitalisation may be influencing pricing and where we, in turn, must remain alert if we are to fully grasp the associated dynamics; the foreign exchange market, where the emergence of new technologies and players has led us to expand our in-house capabilities and redouble our efforts to stay at the cutting edge of technological progress (Thomas Moser, Deputy Head of Department III since 1 September, will give you more detail on this topic); and finally, the money market, where structural changes are prompting us to work on modernising infrastructure and maintaining appropriate framework conditions in order to ensure effective implementation of monetary policy. Evolution of the goods and services market and weak inflation So let me start with the goods and services market and inflation developments. This market is presenting central banks with an important conundrum: why, given that the economy has firmed significantly since 2017, has inflation remained low in most advanced economies? Page 2/9  Two major reasons stand out: on the one hand, monetary policy geared to price stability has firmly anchored inflation expectations; on the other, various structural factors linked to globalisation may have had a moderating effect on prices.