LUKANYO MNYANDA: The novelty of inflation making its way into the great QE debate

Something odd happened at the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee’s press conference. A journalist asked the governor, Lesetja Kganyago, about the possibility of SA falling into deflation.

With inflation slowing to just 2.1% in May, well below the target range of 3%-6%, it was a reasonable question to ask. It just brought home how something that should be central to the unending debate about whether the Bank should conduct a full-blown quantitative easing (QE) programme barely features.