You're on the button as usual Chartist. It's that blooming deficit, and it's going to get much, much worse at the rate that our exports are crumbling, and we do not have treasury reserves to even speak of. Can you imagine, a gold producing nation where only 9% of forex reserves are held in AU, a measly 124 tonnes (if I'm right). We are oh so vulnerable here. With our economic framework, at the rate this thing is picking up steam we could see a deflationary spiral in real assets (credit backed type assets) and hyperinflation in consumables/staples since we import just about everything we consume. The ZAR is on ultra thin ice. Inflation still at 8% is guaranteed ZAR devaluation against all those currencies now at virtual 0% inflation and while it says inflation, the dynamics of the kind of macro conditions we are now seeing don't quite fit the overall inflation model. In a normal recession you get GDP contraction and with a falling CPI you'd expect some mitigation of the drop in personal consumption expenditure. That's not what is happening this time. Our demand still seems kinda ok but we do lag the rest of the world some. Look to the US as a LEI for this kind of thing. Unlike their previous recessions where a drop in CPI encourages spending, this time it's not happening. There is a secular change happening in consumer behaviour in the US. Their GDP is tumbling, their CPI is crumbling, and the US consumer's Personal Consumption Expenditure is heading south at an alarming rate. The stimulus is NOT working. I will not be surprised if I'm paying ZAR50 for a can of tuna two years from now. Here's a lesser warning sing of what could be ahead. All of you, think about this whether you work for yourself or a company: Has there been any talk of no bonuses or increases this year? Has there been any subtle hints of possible salary cuts? For me the prior is already a fact and the latter has been hinted at twice. That folks, is where deflation begins.