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Macroeconomic impact of public debt and foreign aid in Sri Lanka

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  • Maitra, Biswajit

Abstract

Accumulation of public debt in Sri Lanka is raised significantly since the independence. It exceeded 100% of gross domestic products (GDP) in the late 1980s and the early 2000s. Although it has been declined in the recent past and becomes 79.3% of GDP in 2016; the high level of debt in a weak fiscal position of the small economy Sri Lanka is an issue of concern. In this backdrop, this paper examines the impact of public debt and foreign aid on income, price level and interest rate in Sri Lanka for the post-reform period. It is found that public debt in general and foreign debt, in particular, depresses income and stimulates price level. Domestic debt has some impact on the price level. On the other hand, foreign aid has a deleterious effect on both the income and price level. The foreign debt and aid have raised interest rate both in the short-run and in the long-run, while no significant impact of the domestic debt on interest rate is found. Based on these findings, the paper elaborates on some long-term measures for reducing the dependence on debt and aid in Sri Lanka.

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  • Maitra, Biswajit, 2019. "Macroeconomic impact of public debt and foreign aid in Sri Lanka," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 372-394.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:41:y:2019:i:2:p:372-394
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2019.03.002
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    2. Biswajit Maitra, 2021. "Relative role of external debt, FDI, and domestic investment in economic growth: evidence from Sri Lanka," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 329-347, September.
    3. Bello, Abdulmajeed Kumo & Joshua Adams Ndako & Yusuf, Fadimah & Amodu Amina Ejura, 2023. "Fiscal Dominance and Monetary Policy Efficacy in Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(10), pages 857-877, October.
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    5. Bulus Gokay Canberk, 2020. "Growth-maximizing public debt in Turkey: An empirical investigation," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 6(3), pages 68-87, August.
    6. Abdul Jalil, 2020. "Debt Sustainability: Economic Growth is the Panacea," PIDE Knowledge Brief 2020:19, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public debt; Foreign aid; GDP; Price level; Interest rate; Cointegration; Causal relation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes

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