PRESS RELEASE
Decisions by the Supervisory Council, 15 January 2025

In the meeting of 15 January 2025, the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania reviewed and decided to:

• Approve the Schedule for the meetings of the Supervisory Council

The Supervisory Council assessed its activity in 2024 and approved the work programme for 2025, as well as the schedule of the meetings to be held during the current year.

This schedule will be published on our website www.bankofalbania.org.

• Approve the Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises Financing Program (MSMEsFP) in Albania and the accompanying documentation

The Micro, Small, and Medium sized Enterprises Financing Program (MSMEsFP) aims at establishing and structuring a financing instrument for commercial banks, enabling them to enhance credit access for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises operating in Albania.

This program, developed within the legal framework governing the activity of the Bank of Albania and adhering to market economy principles, seeks to improve financing conditions for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. The program will be implemented through commercial banks operating in Albania and licensed, regulated and supervised by the Bank of Albania.

In general, the (MSMEsFP) provides for the establishment of a long-term lending instrument for banks that have access to the monetary operations of the Bank of Albania, at a cost lower than the policy rate with the obligation that such liquidity will be used exclusively to finance these enterprises. The cost of loans under this program is expected to be lower than current long-term lending rates for (SMEs). In order to protect the financial interests of the Bank of Albania, liquidity injection will be secured with collateral similar to that accepted in standard operations, ensuring that credit risk remains with commercial banks.

The Supervisory Council was also informed on daily functional and operational activities of the Bank of Albania.