These hearings are an important part of the accountability process for the RBA and my colleagues and I welcome this opportunity to explain our thinking and answer your questions. Later this morning, the RBA will be releasing our quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy. I would like to highlight 5 key themes from this report.
The first is that the Australian economy has bounced back quicker and stronger than was earlier expected. The pre-pandemic level of GDP was regained in the March quarter, more than a year earlier than we had expected in August last year. But it is in the labour market where the recovery has been most remarkable.