At that time, we were coming out of a period of nearly two decades of high and variable inflation, a period during which governments had repeatedly promised to reduce inflation and had repeatedly broken those promises. It was hardly surprising that, initially at least, the public greeted the news of one more approach to delivering low inflation with a high degree of scepticism.
On the other hand, the rapid growth has touched only some sectors of the economy, and new areas of concern have emerged both internationally and domestically. [Slide 7] The recovery in industrial output has progressed at a very different pace in different industries. The chemical industry appears to have already recovered from the recession.