Of course, digitalisation would not work without good internet connections. We, therefore, engaged Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on possibility of boosting internet connections in the areas where we held the Greenback activities. With digitalisation, migrants can now send money home anywhere, anytime. This eliminates the need to travel great distance to the nearest town, which 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  can be costly and risky at times. The Project team experienced first-hand the numerous logistical challenges just to get into the plantations. A single journey can take about a 3-hour drive from town. Today, I am happy to note that Project Greenback in Sabah has produced encouraging results. We have sensitised close to 5,000 individuals. More than 1,600 of them have registered to use e-remittance channels. A total of RM6.9 million equivalent worth of remittances were sent from Sabah using echannels. The most encouraging result is that average remittance cost in Sabah has reduced significantly, to below 3%. 8 months ago, it was much higher. Although there is much to be done to increase the numbers, the outcomes are testament that our hard work and perseverance have paid off. We have reached an important milestone and this tells us that technology can be the gateway to financial inclusion. Technology has the potential to be a game changer.
Old-style central bank balance-sheet expansion coupled to ever higher risk-taking, operations that were considered unthinkable until a decade ago, have become almost a 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  mainstream instruments. The pandemic has tested the resilience of the Albanian economy and of our banking system. It has put an immense social and financial strain on households and businesses and has forced the authorities to act swiftly to address the health crisis and to introduce major policy initiatives in order to contain its impact. The Bank of Albania has used a wide range of policies to support financial activity and aggregate demand. We reduced the policy rate to a historical low of 0.5% and increased the amount of liquidity injected into the system. These actions were aimed at reducing the debt servicing costs across the economy and at supporting continued financial intermediation. In addition, in close consultation with the banking industry, we applied targeted – though temporary – regulatory reliefs, designed to encourage both the temporary deferral of loan installments and the consensual restructuring of loans for borrowers in difficulties, but with sound business prospects. Finally, we took both macro and micro prudential measures in order to strengthen the banks’ balance sheets and preserve their lending capacity. On the fiscal side, the Albanian government delivered fiscal accommodation through: Allocating additional funds to support the health sector; Increasing social transfers to compensate for the households’ loss of income; Offering temporary tax relief to businesses and introducing sovereign credit guarantee schemes to improve their access to finance.