The Role of JVI Training in the Central Bank of Albania

Adam Gersl (left) interviewing Andi Bala (right)

All JVI partner countries have nominated training directors to help facilitate the integration of JVI training into the national institutions’ human capital development strategies. We have approached Mr. Andi Bala, Director of the Human Resources Department and the “JVI training director” at the Bank of Albania and asked him a few questions about the role of JVI training at his bank.

How does JVI training help your central bank develop? Can you give any concrete examples of how your bank benefits from the skills and knowledge obtained by staff at JVI training?

Over the last five years, Bank of Albania (BoA) staff has participated in numerous JVI courses, mostly in areas closely related to the BoA’s strategic objectives regarding monetary policy, financial stability, and economic research. Based on departmental feedback, this training has helped them enhance their knowledge of topics such as applied economic policy, financial programming, macroeconomic forecasting, models for policy analysis, financial system analysis, and macroprudential and monetary policy frameworks.

Visible concrete results can be seen in many areas, such as in further developing the BoA’s existing macroeconomic models, sector-specific analysis, and forecasting; estimating the financial cycle in Albania and constructing early warning indicators; enhancing the stress testing methodology; improving the methods to identify systemic banks; and understanding unconventional monetary policies and the importance of clear monetary policy communication. JVI training has also contributed to improving the quality of both external and internal reports prepared at the BoA.

Furthermore, we should never forget that networking and the cross-sharing of information among peers about challenges and country experiences has been one of the most valuable value added of JVI courses.

What training needs does your central bank foresee for the near future?

As our training needs are driven by, and based on, our mid-term strategy and objectives, BoA staff will continue to require training in the key areas of central banking activity for the foreseeable future, namely monetary policy, financial stability, banking supervision, and economic research. Most likely, the focus will be on five broad topics:

• Modelling and forecasting techniques used in all key areas, including DSGE modelling and econometric methods to analyze microdata;
• Understanding the impediments to the functioning of domestic money markets and designing strategies to accelerate its development;
• Understanding and quantitatively assessing the links between the de-euroization measures and the transmission of monetary policy;
• Improving the monetary policy communication strategy;
• Strengthening knowledge of the macroprudential framework in Europe (including the European Systemic Risk Board policies), designing and implementing macroprudential instruments, and enhancing risk analysis of shadow banking institutions.

What does your internal staff development strategy look like and what role does JVI training play?

The goal of the Human Resources Department is to provide all BoA units with training that supports everyday tasks and helps improve performance both individually and as a group. To achieve this, we use operational and strategic objectives as a benchmark for their needs and the performance assessment process as an identification tool. Since the beginning of our cooperation, the JVI has proved itself an important partner in providing highly professional training along with considerate financial support, hence it is our duty and pleasure to maintain and enrich this relationship for the future.

Adam Gersl, Senior Economist, JVI