However, given that the drop in demand after the financial crisis was considerable and the pace of economic recovery has been moderate, the pace of improvement in the supply and demand balance is likely to remain moderate, and the timing of the year-on-year rate of change in the CPI entering the positive territory is likely to be sometime in fiscal 2011.
I hope and expect that the progress you have made in transforming the region’s economy will continue as the expansion extends into its 11th year. I am well aware of the challenges this area has been working to overcome since the Great Recession. And I am impressed by how much has been accomplished here.