PRESS RELEASE
On the 8th South-Eastern European Economic Research Workshop, organised by the Bank of Albania and the Bilateral Assistance and Capacity Building for Central Banks programme

On 3-5 December 2014, the Bank and the Bilateral Assistance and Capacity Building for Central Banks organised the 8th South-Eastern European Economic Research Workshop on "Financial globalization and its consequences on the transmission of macroeconomic fluctuations"

The workshop was attended by renowned representatives of the academia and central bank researchers. It aims at furthering economic research in South-Eastern Europe (SEE) and extending the knowledge of special features of the economies in the region. Through scientific knowledge sharing and joint projects' development, the workshop enhances regional cooperation.

During the workshop, discussions focused on:

• Financial globalization and its consequences on the transmission of macroeconomic fluctuations;
• Exposure to international funding in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) banking systems and liquidity shocks during the crisis;
• Central bank policies counteracting the effects of the financial crisis; Coordination among central banks and other supervisory authorities in the region;
• Role of monetary policy in the financial stability of the region during the recent crisis.

The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Albania, Ms. Elisabeta Gjoni, addressed the proceedings of the workshop, underlining that research is an essential activity in modern central banking. The analysis on the role of banks in transmitting macroeconomic and financial fluctuations should be based on scientific research.

In addition, Ms. Gjoni thanked the Bilateral Assistance and Capacity Building for Central Banks (BCC) programme, with which the Bank of Albania has been implementing a very successful cooperation programme since 2013. The 8th workshop is organised in this framework.

Participants in the workshop discussed on the positive impact of financial globalisation through the increase of competition and efficiency in the domestic banking system. Moreover, the recent global financial crisis highlighted the fact that this globalisation contributes to transmitting shocks, contributing, therefore, negatively to reducing financial intermediation, especially in SEE countries. The transmission of these shocks, however, is low when foreign bank subsidiaries are well capitalised, have adequate provisioning and have independent legal personality from parent banks.

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants affirmed that such workshops are very important not only in the academic but also on in the practical aspect, both for central banks and academics in the field of economy. 

The Bilateral Assistance and Capacity Building for Central Banks (BCC) is a program jointly funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (GIIDS). Its purpose is to support partner central banks in emerging and developing countries in building the analytical and technical expertise required for the efficient conduct of monetary policy.