IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bjf/journl/v11y2026i4p776-795.html

Contributory Shackles to Unsustainable Public Borrowing Appetite of Ghana and Its Impact on Economic Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Sumaila Mohammed Ibrahim

    (Graduate School of Business, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ashanti Region)

Abstract

A triangular socio-economic contributory shackle to Ghana’s fiscal management practices is observed. Notably, a National, Institutional and Community level socio-economic shackles are systemic in the democratic governance structures and found to have very profound negative effect on Annual Tax Revenues and GDP Growth. Total Public Debt was found to have both long-run positive (0.10%) and negative (0.12%) effect on GDP using Variable Selection and Stepwise Least squares (VARSEL) model. Proposed radical solutions to the contributory shackles could free significant fiscal space for phenomenal economic investments that are more likely to make Ghana exit its structural developmental gaps over a decade. The essay concludes by postulating an optimal total debt level of 30% of GDP; a reorganization of the national parliament, employment of technology in revenue collection, critical investments in effective transport network, agriculture, education and reliable national internet connectivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Sumaila Mohammed Ibrahim, 2026. "Contributory Shackles to Unsustainable Public Borrowing Appetite of Ghana and Its Impact on Economic Growth," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS), vol. 11(4), pages 776-795, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bjf:journl:v:11:y:2026:i:4:p:776-795
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrias/uploads/vol11-iss4-pg776-795-202605_pdf.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrias/view/contributory-shackles-to-unsustainable-public-borrowing-appetite-of-ghana-and-its-impact-on-economic-growth/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aimola, Akingbade U & Odhiambo, Nicholas M, 2021. "Public debt and inflation: Empirical evidence from Ghana," Working Papers 27063, University of South Africa, Department of Economics.
    2. Emmanuel Yeboah Lartey & Alhassan Musah & Bismark Okyere & Abdul-Nasir Yusif, 2018. "Public Debt and Economic Growth: Evidence From Africa," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(6), pages 35-45.
    3. Emeka Nkoro & Aham Kelvin Uko, 2016. "Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration technique: application and interpretation," Journal of Statistical and Econometric Methods, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 5(4), pages 1-3.
    4. Hauner, David, 2009. "Public debt and financial development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 171-183, January.
    5. M. Hashem Pesaran & Yongcheol Shin & Richard J. Smith, 2001. "Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 289-326.
    6. Naeem Akram, 2011. "Impact of Public Debt on the Economic Growth of Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 50(4), pages 599-615.
    7. repec:afa:wpaper:aesri-2021-06 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Adamu Braimah Abille & Esin Kiliç, 2023. "Asymmetric modeling of the public debt–economic growth nexus in Ghana," Review of Economics and Political Science, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(2), pages 108-122, January.
    9. Andrea F Presbitero, 2012. "Total Public Debt and Growth in Developing Countries," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 24(4), pages 606-626, September.
    10. Badi H. Baltagi, 2015. "Distributed Lags and Dynamic Models," Springer Texts in Business and Economics, in: Solutions Manual for Econometrics, edition 3, chapter 0, pages 125-156, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nermin Yasar, 2021. "The Causal Relationship Between Foreign Debt and Economic Growth: Evidence from Commonwealth Independent States," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 56(4), pages 415-429, November.
    2. Samwel Aloket Kipyego & Charity Njoka & Joseph Muniu, 2022. "Relationship Between Public Debt And Financial Development In Kenya," International Journal of Finance and Accounting, IPRJB, vol. 7(4), pages 55-83.
    3. Md. Saiful Islam, 2025. "Linking green innovation to environmental quality in Saudi Arabia: an application of the NARDL approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(8), pages 19741-19762, August.
    4. repec:ava:cbnefr:v:58:y:2020:i:1:a:4:p: is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Kashif Islam & Ahmad Raza Bilal & Syed Anees Haider Zaidi, 2022. "Symmetric and asymmetric nexus between economic freedom and stock market development in Pakistan," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 2391-2421, November.
    6. Carmen van der Merwe & Martin de Wit, 2021. "An In-Depth Investigation into the Relationship Between Municipal Solid Waste Generation and Economic Growth in the City of Cape Town," Working Papers 07/2021, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics, revised 2021.
    7. K.S., Sujit & Ray, Subhajyoti, 2023. "Linear and nonlinear asymmetric relationship in crude oil, gold, stock market and exchange rates: An evidence from the UAE," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Sohail Abbas & Shazia Kousar & Amber Pervaiz, 2021. "Effects of energy consumption and ecological footprint on CO2 emissions: an empirical evidence from Pakistan," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(9), pages 13364-13381, September.
    9. Karambir Singh Dhayal & David Forgenie & Arun Kumar Giri & Nikmatul Khoiriyah & Wendy-Ann P. Isaac, 2026. "Modelling the nexus between green energy, agricultural production, forest cover, and population growth towards climate change for the transition towards a green economy," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 9935-9959, April.
    10. Zameelah Khan Jaffur & Boopen Seetanah & Noor-Ul-Hacq Sookia, 2020. "A cross-country analysis of the determinants of the real effective exchange rate in fifteen Sub-Saharan African countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 1686-1697.
    11. Al-Shboul, Mohammad & Al Rawashdeh, Rami, 2022. "The impact of institutional quality and resources rent on health: The case of GCC," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Fortune Ganda, 2025. "Testing the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in South Africa using the ARDL approach," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(1), pages 67-99, February.
    13. Jagannath Mallick, 2024. "Impact of economic globalisation and productivity on labour share in India and China," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 137-168, June.
    14. Meltem Duğru, 2020. "Twin Deficit Hypothesis and Reverse Causality: An Empirical Study on Turkish Economy," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 70(2), pages 413-435, December.
    15. Armenia Androniceanu & Irina Georgescu & Ionuț Nica & Nora Chiriță, 2023. "A Comprehensive Analysis of Renewable Energy Based on Integrating Economic Cybernetics and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model—The Case of Romania," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-28, August.
    16. Refilwe Maduane-Komape & Makgopa Tshehla, 2024. "Foreign divestment, financial development, and economic growth nexus in selected African countries: Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Approach," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 13(3), pages 233-247, April.
    17. Mohamad Alnafissa & Mahmoud Alderiny & Yosef Alamri & Jawad Alhashim, 2021. "The Future of Saudi Arabia’s Date Exports Using a Cointegration Model," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 11(1), pages 113-119.
    18. Ruba Abdullah Aljarallah, 2020. "The Economic Impacts of Natural Resource Dependency in Gulf Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(6), pages 36-52.
    19. Samuel, Sunday Eneojo & Kouhy, Reza, 2025. "Paradox of oil revenue allocation and utilisation in resource-rich countries: The case of Nigeria," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    20. Bouazza Elamine Zemri & Sidi Mohamed Boumediene Khetib, 2024. "Can Sustainable Economic Development Curtail Carbon Dioxide Emissions? Insights from Algeria’s Industry," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 3, pages 70-83.
    21. Kudakwashe, Chinyanganya & Regret, Sunge, 2021. "Growth Effects of Foreign Direct Investments in Zimbabwe: Do Sources Matter?," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 9(4), September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bjf:journl:v:11:y:2026:i:4:p:776-795. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Renu Malsaria (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrias/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.