TIRANA, Feb. 14, 2022 – President Ilir Meta has nominated Albania’s central bank governor, Gent Sejko, for a second seven-year term at the helm of Bank of Albania, the president’s office said in a statement on Monday.
The nomination now goes to Albania’s parliament for approval.
The nomination was a major hurdle for Sejko, as the president had expressed some concerns about the role of the central bank in Albania’s economic performance.
The presidential statement said he “valued the Bank of Albania’s role to accommodate the needed recovery after the earthquake and pandemic.”
However, Meta’s statement also added that “under conditions of a growing inflation, including higher food and energy prices, the Bank of Albania should … adjust its policies to protect price stability.”
Sejko was recently reappointed as a member of the central bank’s supervisory council, paving the way for the president and parliament to give him a second and final term in office.
Albania’s ruling Socialist Party has not issued any criticism of the governor, thus his reappointment is likely, political and economic watchers note.
Sejko, 52, has been serving as central bank governor for seven years. He had 20 years of experience in the country’s banking system before then and had previously served as a deputy director of the Albanian subsidiary of France’s Societe Generale Bank.
Bank of Albania is heading for some changes in its policies, Sejko indicated in a recent speech, as rising inflation and the changing international economic landscape could force the bank to increase rates from the current record low.
“We are monitoring inflation,” he told local media. “We are at the historical minimum interest rate of 0.5% and depending on inflation we will react.”
