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).
Jon Cunliffe: Credit – can trees grow to the sky? Speech by Sir Jon Cunliffe, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability of the Bank of England, at the British Property Federation Annual Residential Investment Conference, London, 9 February 2016. *  *  *  Accompanying charts can be found at the end of the speech. Evolution of private credit In 1880, the stock of aggregate bank lending to the private non-financial sector in the British economy was around 16% of GDP.1 It grew, gradually, over the next 100 years, except in the periods of the first and second world wars, when it fell sharply. In 1950, the stock of aggregate lending which includes credit provided by non-bank institutions, was 63%. It rose and fell of course but it broadly stayed around that level for the next 30 years. It was 63% in 1980. The rate of growth changed markedly in the last 20 years of the century which was a period of first liberalisation and then globalisation of the financial sector (Chart 1). Credit began to grow consistently faster than the economy. As a result, the stock of credit increased rapidly from 63% of GDP in 1980 to 120% by the early 1990s. It paused for a few years following the recession of the early 1990s, and then resumed its upward path. By 2009 it had reached 177% of GDP – one and three quarter times the annual product of the economy. In aggregate, advanced economies saw a similar upward trend (Chart 2).