We are feeling the effects of global supply-chain problems and higher oil prices, but we have not seen the same increases in goods prices as have occurred in the United States. It is also relevant that the prices that Australian households pay for utilities are little changed and have not gone up sharply like the prices of utilities in Europe.
This is also reflected in differences in total factor productivity growth, which has risen by only half as much in the euro area as it has in the United States since 2000. To help us close this gap, we have a very potent tool at our disposal: empowering our internal market. The private sector calls it: scale.