While the debt-to-GDP ratios have not reached crippling levels yet, countries in the region will want to avoid a repeat of the over indebtedness of the 1970s and 1980s, which had forced many of them into  6 This is equivalent to 0.5% of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP. Page 8 of 11  socially and economically painful adjustment programmes.
It is more likely that the challenges for fiscal policymakers in the coming years will be of a structural nature, such as broadening the tax base and improving taxpayers’ compliance, reducing fiscal revenue dependency on natural resources, and re-prioritizing expenditure away from wasteful, inefficient interventions. But can monetary policy step in and provide support?