Mr. Gabriel Makhlouf:

As I said in my statement, we are concerned at the rate of inflation. It is important to understand the drivers of that inflation because that helps us to understand what we can do about it. From a political perspective, if a decision is made to address the impact of inflation on the cost of living, it is important that measures are targeted. I also suggest that measures should be temporary and I would be cautious about how far to go before potentially becoming part of the problem. We published a paper on the impact of inflation a few weeks ago. It hits people on lower incomes, older people and rural households more than others, principally because those groups tend to spend more on energy and food than other households. Support, if the State considers it necessary, should be targeted in those areas rather than taking a broad-brush approach.