• On the other hand, households with low incomes also suffer if inflation is too low due to low aggregate demand. These households are usually very exposed to the business cycle and, more often than not, face unemployment and lower living standards when there is a trough. So, again, low and 1 [5]  stable inflation is an important contribution from monetary policy. • When looking at effects on equality, there are different channels from monetary policy at play. • These include the exchange rate, effects on stock prices, house prices and the labour market. • Low interest rates increase demand and are often associated with higher share prices and house prices. As shares are typically owned by high income earners, this increases the capital income for those at the upper part of the income distribution 1. House ownership is normally more evenly distributed than shares 2, so higher house prices would have smaller effects on equality. • The labour market channel is sometimes ignored when analysing the monetary policy effects on equality. This effect is not easy to calculate, but it is an important channel. • When attaining an inflation target, this normally goes hand in hand with an economy avoiding too much of booms and busts in the business cycle and less swings in unemployment. Less uncertainty over economic developments and economic policy is good for investment, and hence for growth and labour market outcomes. So, labour market developments are important for income equality.
Gent Sejko: Albania’s banking sector progresses but four key challenges remain Address by Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, to the third AAB Conference on Banks for Sustainable Development, Tirana, 14 May 2019. * * *  Your Excellency Madame Minister1, Dear Chairman of the Albanian Association of Banks, Dear representatives of the banking sector, dear guests, Let me first congratulate the Albanian Association of Banks on its 20th anniversary. The Association, which came into being as token of emancipation in the banking sector, has become now a genuine platform of communication and coordination within the banking industry, and a key player in the economic and financial life of the country. I would also like to congratulate the organisers for this event, which helps the banking sector, regulators and policymakers alike, to identify the challenges lying ahead and explore the best alternatives for addressing them. Dear ladies and gentlemen, The banking system in Albania has made considerable progress over the last two decades. To illustrate my point, I would like to bring to your attention some facts and figures. Over the span of two decades, the portfolio of bank credit has expanded significantly, leaping from 5% to 35% of the country’s GDP. Similarly, the volume of deposits – in other words, the volume of savings of the Albanian public administered by the banking sector – has grown from 45% to 70% of the GDP.