When Philip Lowe formally relinquishes his post as central bank governor in less than two weeks, he will not be able to claim he has left the economy in better shape than when he found it.
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Inflation is well above the 2 to 3 per cent target band, growth is slowing sharply and many households and businesses are under severe financial strain.
But, considering the challenges he has faced over the past seven years - a global pandemic, a war-fueled energy shock and a worldwide inflation crisis - he could credibly argue it is not as bad as it could have been.
Though official figures due out on Wednesday are expected to show the economy slowed in the June quarter - and may even have contracted slightly - inflation is moderating, the jobless rate remains near a 50-year low, wages have picked up and the financial system appears robust.
Even if unemployment increases, as the central bank expects, there seem good chances Dr Lowe will be able to pull off his goal of bringing inflation down without sending the country spinning into a job-destroying downturn.
There have obviously been blemishes to the departing governor's record.
The biggest was his attempt during the pandemic to provide reassurance by predicting interest rates would stay very low until 2024.
Many of those who literally took his words to the bank remain understandably angry about the call, given that they are grappling with interest rates many multiples higher than they were expecting.
The fact that Dr Lowe didn't explicitly mention this when asked to nominate regrets at a recent parliamentary committee hearing further infuriated some.
It was arguably implicit in his admission that he wished "I had understood the implications of the pandemic a bit more", but that will be of little comfort for those wedged by soaring living costs and high interest rates.
But as he chairs his final Reserve Bank of Australia board meeting on Tuesday, the departing governor could well deliver a gift of sorts if, as expected, interest rates are kept on hold for a third successive month.
After driving rates up by 4 percentage points in little more than a year - the most aggressive central bank tightening in the modern era - the RBA appears increasingly confident that it has done enough to bring inflation down.
That is certainly the view of the markets and many economists, who are now looking ahead to rate cuts as early as March next year.
Under Dr Lowe's leadership, the RBA has not pushed interest rates as fast or as high as many of its peers. In New Zealand, for instance, the official cash rate is at 5.5 per cent and the Bank of Canada's target rate is at 5 per cent.
There are many variables at play, but one of them has been the Reserve Bank's decision to prioritise jobs ahead of bringing inflation down more quickly - a strategy that so far appears on track.
Plenty of things could still go awry.
China's mounting economic woes are concerning, services inflation could prove more stubborn than anticipated and productivity may not revive.
And the incoming governor Michele Bullock faces plenty of thorny challenges, not least determining when rates can start to be cut and piloting cultural changes to the way the central bank operates.
But when the RBA board concludes Tuesday's meeting with a vote of appreciation to the outgoing governor, there is plenty Ms Bullock and her colleagues will be grateful for.
