Deputy Finance Minister Sfiso Buthelezi criticised the South African Reserve Bank on Monday for its policy of inflation targeting, saying that the issue should be opened up for debate. Speaking at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg in his first solo public address, Buthelezi said while inflation targeting might be good for developed economies; it was bad for emerging economies such as SA’s. "It might have been the right policy of the time [it was adopted], but when we are faced with the economic crisis that we’re having, is it appropriate?" Inflation targeting was adopted by the bank in 2000 as a means of introducing predictability into monetary policy. While it remained the policy of the day and the government was committed to it, Buthelezi said it should be put on the table for discussion. "The role of the Reserve Bank is a contested space.… Let’s not be intellectually lazy; let’s not accept these things as gospel truth," he said in reference to Public Protec...
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