Both government and external imbalances have to some extent narrowed over the past two or three years, and given widespread commitments and - in some cases - market pressures for budget consolidation, government imbalances are expected to continue to diminish over the next few years. But in the case of current account imbalances, the extent to which the recent narrowing reflects cyclical rather than structural factors remains unclear. This section highlights the likely impact on budget deficits and current account imbalances of recommendations for OECD and BRIICS’ countries in the areas identified as country-specific policy priorities and reported in Chapter 1.