100 Years of the Bank of Albania – A Century of Stability, Development, and Progress

The Bank of Albania today marked its 100th anniversary. On this occasion, a high-level scientific conference was held under the theme “A Century of Central Banking: From Institutional Foundation to the Role as a Regional Anchor”, with the participation of governors of central banks, representatives of international financial institutions, and academics in the field. The discussion focused on the challenges faced by small and medium-sized economies in an increasingly fragmented macroeconomic environment, under new geopolitical conditions and rapid developments in financial innovation.

Prime Minister Edi Rama, who addressed the event, stated that this is an important milestone in the history of the Bank of Albania, while he praised the Bank as a consolidated institution with standards that has faced many challenges throughout its journey.

On the Bank’s centenary, a numismatic silver coin with a nominal value of 100 lekë, without legal tender, was also issued and presented by the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Address:

Greetings, to all the friends who have come from beyond our borders to join this important moment in the life of the Bank of Albania. Let me begin by quoting someone who, for all of you, is a point of reference, John Keynes, who said that in the long run, life is short, and the task of a central bank is precisely to ensure that in the short run everything remains within the framework of the long run.

As we arrive at this moment of celebration, I was reflecting that the Bank of Albania is among the very few institutions of our Republic that can truly and fully be called an institution, in the very sense and with the standards we have in mind when we speak of the institutions a country needs, those that make it part of the developed world and seated at the table of the European family.

It would indeed be valuable for the history of the Bank of Albania’s development and its efforts to shape and consolidate itself as an institution to be studied and written, to give others a comprehensive picture of how such an institution was built, one that today is fully and practically integrated into the modern world we live in. A simple testimony to this fact were the two addresses given by the personalities representing the developed world in which an institution like the Bank of Albania operates.

Today, the Bank of Albania enters its second century and finds itself on a completely different map from the one it was placed on at the beginning of its first century. After the global pandemic, the war in Europe, and inflationary waves, we are all aware that monetary policy is no longer measured solely by the base rate but also by expectations. Normalization today means much more than the use of the base rate mechanism. It also means transparency, creativity, and courage, step by step, with vigilance and without panic in the face of the ever-present surprises in the daily life of nations and our global village.

Naturally, in this context, the challenge for our central bank is twofold: on one hand, to look beyond the present and much further into the future, even as the future itself draws ever nearer, and on the other hand, to continue proving that it stands at the right height of its essential, traditional, and historical function.

As we jointly strive to advance as quickly as possible through the process of EU accession, thinking every day about how to maintain the high pace we have set with the successive opening of negotiation clusters, and working to understand what more must be done to avoid the risk of running out of time to close them, the world is changing at a dizzying speed. New developments penetrating globally and locally in the world of finance and money are shaking to the core issues that until very recently, literally yesterday, seemed resolved and undisputed.

It was fifty years ago that the Governor of the Central Bank of Sweden warned that central banks were entering a phase in which they would have to think and act jointly to maintain balance beyond national borders. Today, digitalization followed by artificial intelligence and a range of innovations in the monetary sphere such as 24/7 instant payments, open banking, digital banks, and cryptocurrencies bring both extraordinary opportunities and extraordinary dilemmas. These have now become concepts that must be integrated into traditional thinking sooner rather than later, as it is clear that this open world integrates them regardless of the will of governments or central banks. Thus, a space of ever-wider actions and interactions is being created, beyond the reach of governments and outside the control of central banks. Yet even more importantly, extraordinary potentials remain outside this space, potentials that must be integrated and harnessed within a completely new and innovative regulatory framework.

Nearly two hundred years ago, a wise man said that money cannot manage itself. You, better than anyone, know this truth, as professionals and institutions dedicated to managing money wisely. But today, we are at an entirely different level: alongside money that must be managed, we now face algorithms that, even more so, cannot manage themselves. Precisely for this reason, alongside monetary policy, we now need new control mechanisms for managing algorithms and an even more open mindset to embrace these new realities brought by developments that we can no longer control, but must do everything possible to prevent them from controlling us.

What is happening today in the world of finance, money circulation, and the frenzied pace of technological development is both extremely challenging and deeply exciting. For central banks, institutions deeply rooted in history and tradition, carrying the weight of their heritage precisely because they embody stability, this era poses an extraordinary challenge.

Still, I must say that for the Government of the Republic of Albania, and for the governments of the Republic of Albania throughout time, it is indeed a privilege to operate in an environment with such a central bank, one that has weathered its own crises, particularly the transition from dictatorship and a centralized economy to the free market space, when Albania tragically became an example of monetary collapse through the pyramid schemes. Yet since then, the Bank has recovered remarkably and navigated well through the sometimes turbulent seas of finance, often influenced by crises originating beyond our borders.

On the other hand, I sincerely hope and believe that the Central Bank, with the same capacity it has demonstrated in ensuring stability and building public trust, will also be able to renew itself and embrace with courage the innovations that daily technological progress brings. In doing so, it will preserve balance, drive development forward, and ensure that the extraordinary potentials brought by technological advancement and the entry of AI into our lives, along with their risks, do not remain outside its daily scope of activity.

Let me conclude with the words of a great banker who, for many years, was a monument in the eyes of all bankers, and who later himself faced the challenge of seeing that monument questioned, Alan Greenspan, who said something very fitting for the era we live in regarding the courage a central bank must have: “Floods happen once every hundred years,” he said this back when floods truly did occur once every hundred years, “and it is pointless to think about floods every year if you are a financial institution, and even more so if you are a central bank.”

These were my words, in full respect of your independence, which we must and will continue to value, and at the same time, bear with dignity and composure.

Thank you very much.