The Bank of Albania published an update on Governor Sejko’s meeting with Riccardo Ercoli, the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Director for Albania, covering IMF technical assistance and the central bank’s current priorities in banking supervision, enterprise finance and payments modernisation. The Governor highlighted IMF support programmes focused on monetary policy, statistics and banking supervision, and pointed to improving macro-financial indicators including inflation, non-performing loans and bank balance sheets. In supervision, the Bank outlined regulatory changes intended to strengthen consumer protection and transparency for borrowers by lowering costs and improving disclosure of fees and loan terms. The Bank also presented a financing programme for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises designed to structure a bank-usable instrument to expand credit access, with a stated focus on areas where financing has been more limited, including agriculture; the programme is valued at approximately ALL 25 billion and envisages loans of up to ALL 25 million per small and medium-sized enterprise. Separately, the discussion covered steps to align the payments regulatory framework with European standards, with the Bank citing its aim of membership in the Single Euro Payments Area. Mr Ercoli commended the Bank’s reforms in support of its financial stability and price stability mandate and encouraged continued monitoring of credit risk, the exchange rate and interest rates, including progress in bringing inflation back to target. Both sides emphasised the importance of ongoing institutional collaboration and future technical assistance.
Bank of Albania 2025-02-26
Bank of Albania briefs IMF Executive Director on consumer-protection reforms, ALL 25 billion MSME lending programme and SEPA alignment
The Bank of Albania updated on Governor Sejko’s meeting with Riccardo Ercoli, IMF Executive Director for Albania, discussing IMF technical assistance and priorities in banking supervision, enterprise finance, and payments modernization. Key topics included regulatory changes to enhance consumer protection, a financing programme for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises valued at approximately ALL 25 billion, and aligning the payments framework with European standards. Both parties stressed the importance of continued collaboration and monitoring financial stability indicators.