Given that official finance (such as concessional loans from international financial institutions) is projected to be flat over the medium term, larger capital account surpluses will only be possible if there are substantial increases in net private capital flows, increases which are at best uncertain because of the difficulties facing the advanced economies from where most of these flows originate.
Moreover, even if larger net inflows of private capital can be attracted to SSA countries to finance current account deficits, private capital flows are likely to be volatile because of the fragility and turbulence on global financial markets, which itself will be a source of instability for the macroeconomy. 3.