Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to pick up where we left off when the chair so abruptly cut me off last time.
We're issuing a record amount of debt this year, as I understand it. The last debt management strategy came out early in the summer. I think about $620-odd billion has to be issued this year. Is that your understanding as well?
Okay.
If the government is saying they will spend less and invest more, in theory, these investments will have a return, of course, because investments do have returns. They continue to borrow through short-term debt instruments. Usually, you'd try to match your assets and liabilities. If you continue to borrow on the short end of the curve, as they say, but make long-term investments, will that not increase the risk to taxpayers?
As interest rates change, taxpayers and the government are far more exposed to the sensitivity of interest rates such that our debt service cost could increase much more quickly if rates were to go up for any reason. I'll note that the rates were dropped recently, but the five-year yield increased after the Bank of Canada increased its rates. Is that your understanding as well? Should we be looking at the matching of assets and liabilities?