a $ 31.8 bill ion de£ ic it in 1981; the preliminary estimate for the 1982 deficit is $2G.4 billion. These are unprecedentedly high figures. The combined 1981-19132 deficit represents more than 40 per cent of export earnings, and the 1981 deficit accounted for about 8 per cent of the 1981 qross domestic product. The 1981- 1982 corrbined deficit of $58.2 billion was higher than the com­ bined deficit of $42 billion for the four difficult years 1975- . 1978i it was also higher at ca1stant (1975) prices. Before 1981- 1982 the worst year had been 1975, but even in that year the current account deficit was equ.i valent to no more than about 31.8 per cent of exports, whereas the 1981 deficit was almost 10 per­ centage points higl1er. ECA secretariat estimates for the balance of payments of developing Africa appear in table VI.B.1. 118 Tab 1 e vI. B . 1 Balance of payments of developing Africa (Billions of US dollars) Exr-ort s ( f. o. b . ) Imports ( f. o. b . ) Trade balance Net services and private transfers Balance on current account Official transfers (net) Capital (net) Net errors and omissions Total change in reserves Source: Tables VI.B.2 and VI.B.3. 1980 94.3 -76.9 17.4 -15.8 1.6 2.8 9.7 -1 .1 -13 .o 1981 74.0 -87.5 -13.5 -18.3 -31.8 3.0 15.6 2.2 11.0 E/ECA/CM.9/5 1 982 E_f 68.1 -74.2 -6.1 -20.3 -26.4 2.7 15.2 1.7 6.8 ~/ Preliminary estimates based on less than 10 months' data. 25. In both 1981 and 1982 the capital inflow Has above $15 bil­ lion. There was no substantial change in the level of official transfers compared to the late 1970s. Rei~)ursement of loans will considerably increase debt service payments in coming years. In both 1981 and 1982 the fall in reserves was enormous (the com·­
**Analysis**
The text discusses the economic situation of developing Africa, specifically the balance of payments and the deficit in the current account. It also mentions the capital inflow, debt service payments, and the fall in reserves. These indicators suggest that the text is focused on economic issues, particularly related to international trade and finance.

**Category**
International trade