Finance committee  Of course, I can do that.

Finance committee  I'm sorry. I think my sound is back.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  I can speak.

Finance committee  Mr. Fast.

Finance committee  Okay, so you can't hear me.

Finance committee  I could just make myself available for questions, if you want.

Finance committee  How is that?

Finance committee  Sure.

Finance committee  So the good news is that following the adjustments made by fiscal and monetary authorities over the past year, inflation is coming down. I fully expect it to return this summer to the 1% to 3% range set by the National Bank of Canada. In the longer term, however, I remain convinced that the main challenge to keeping inflation at an acceptable level is to tackle the poor productivity performance of our economy.

Finance committee  I'm going to talk about the five charts that I distributed, if you have received them. Can you confirm that you have those charts?

Finance committee  First, the recession during the pandemic was unprecedented because the household support measures more than offset job losses, making disposable income grow at a frantic pace in both Canada and the United States. It was an unprecedented environment, combined with a highly flexible monetary policy.

Finance committee  After peaking at 8%, inflation is dropping and currently sits at 5.2%. Canada is one of the few countries where monetary policy can have an impact on inflation because mortgage rate hikes are reflected in inflation. If mortgage rate increases are excluded, inflation is now at 4.8%.

Finance committee  Okay. I apologize for that. I'll be here for questions, if possible.

Finance committee  I didn't hear you.