IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/snbeco/v4y2024i1d10.1007_s43546-023-00601-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fiscal policy sustainability and public debt in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Anselm Komla Abotsi

    (University of Education)

Abstract

The current rising levels of public debt among African countries require that African governments understand how the short- and medium-term sustainability of fiscal policy influences public debt accumulation. This study, therefore, tries to find out how cross‐country sustainability of fiscal policy has affected the accumulation of public debt among African countries. Secondary panel data spanning from 1996 to 2022 for 36 countries in Africa were used in this study. Using the system generalized method of moments estimating technique, while controlling for other variables, the study finds that the implementation of the short- and medium-term sustainable fiscal policy will result in a substantial reduction of public debt among African countries. It is recommended that governments formulate and implement sound, relevant, and sustainable fiscal policies to prevent excessive public debt accumulation in their various countries. Specifically, governments are encouraged to formulate prudent policies to manage the primary balance very well to ensure the sustainability of the public finances.

Suggested Citation

  • Anselm Komla Abotsi, 2024. "Fiscal policy sustainability and public debt in Africa," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:snbeco:v:4:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s43546-023-00601-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s43546-023-00601-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43546-023-00601-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s43546-023-00601-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    2. Cooray, Arusha & Dzhumashev, Ratbek & Schneider, Friedrich, 2017. "How Does Corruption Affect Public Debt? An Empirical Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 115-127.
    3. Stephen R. Bond, 2002. "Dynamic panel data models: a guide to micro data methods and practice," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 1(2), pages 141-162, August.
    4. Anselm Komla Abotsi, 2018. "Tolerable Level of Corruption for Foreign Direct Investment in Europe and Asia," Contemporary Economics, Vizja University, vol. 12(3), September.
    5. David Roodman, 2009. "A Note on the Theme of Too Many Instruments," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 71(1), pages 135-158, February.
    6. David Roodman, 2006. "How to Do xtabond2," North American Stata Users' Group Meetings 2006 8, Stata Users Group.
    7. Hlongwane, Nyiko Worship & Daw, Olebogeng David, 2022. "Determinants of public debt in South Africa: A Regime-Switching Approach," MPRA Paper 113203, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Adonia Chiminya & J. Paul Dunne & Eftychia Nikolaidou, 2018. "The Determinants of External debt in Sub Saharan Africa," School of Economics Macroeconomic Discussion Paper Series 2018-02, School of Economics, University of Cape Town.
    9. Christopher F Baum, 2006. "An Introduction to Modern Econometrics using Stata," Stata Press books, StataCorp LLC, number imeus, July.
    10. Abdul Waheed, 2017. "Determinants of External Debt: A Panel Data Analysis for Oil and Gas Exporting and Importing Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(1), pages 234-240.
    11. Friedrich Heinemann, 2006. "Factor mobility, government debt and the decline in public investment," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 11-26, April.
    12. Mencinger, Jernej & Verbic, Miroslav & Aristovnik, Aleksander, 2015. "Revisiting the role of public debt in economic growth: The case of OECD countries," MPRA Paper 67704, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Gang Gong & Alfred Greiner & Willi Semmler, 2001. "Growth Effects of Fiscal Policy and Debt Sustainability in the EU," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 28(1), pages 3-19, March.
    14. Manoel Bittencourt, 2015. "Determinants of Government and External Debt: Evidence from the Young Democracies of South America," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3), pages 463-472, May.
    15. Anselm Komla Abotsi & Tongyai Iyavarakul, 2015. "Tolerable Level of Corruption for Foreign Direct Investment in Africa," Contemporary Economics, Vizja University, vol. 9(3), September.
    16. Stephen Cecchetti & Madhusudan Mohanty & Fabrizio Zampolli, 2010. "The future of public debt: prospects and implications," BIS Working Papers 300, Bank for International Settlements.
    17. Ilhèm Gargouri & Majdi Ksantini, 2016. "The Determinants Of Public Debt," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 18(59), pages 111-124, March.
    18. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    19. Ákos Dombi & István Dedák, 2019. "Public debt and economic growth: what do neoclassical growth models teach us?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(29), pages 3104-3121, June.
    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. Bashir, Malik Fahim & Xu, Changsheng & Zaman, Khalid & Akhmat, Ghulam & Ikram, Muhammad, 2013. "Impact of foreign political instability on Chinese exports," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 802-807.
    2. Storchmann, Karl, 2008. "The impact of the wine industry on hotels and restaurants in Walla Walla," Working Papers 37358, American Association of Wine Economists.
    3. Scott, K. Rebecca, 2015. "Demand and price uncertainty: Rational habits in international gasoline demand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 40-49.
    4. Balcilar, Mehmet & Gupta, Rangan & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Olasehinde-Williams, Godwin, 2018. "The synergistic effect of insurance and banking sector activities on economic growth in Africa," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 637-648.
    5. Fosu, Augustin Kwasi & Getachew, Yoseph Yilma & Ziesemer, Thomas H.W., 2016. "Optimal Public Investment, Growth, And Consumption: Evidence From African Countries," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(8), pages 1957-1986, December.
    6. Piper, Alan T., 2014. "An Investigation into Happiness, Dynamics and Adaptation," MPRA Paper 57778, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Bravo-Ortega, Claudio & García Marín, Álvaro, 2011. "R&D and Productivity: A Two Way Avenue?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1090-1107, July.
    8. Bilal Mehmood & Haider Mahmood, 2014. "Broadband-Growth Relationship in Asian Perspective: A Revisit Using System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and Panel Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (Pfmols)," International Journal of Economics and Empirical Research (IJEER), The Economics and Social Development Organization (TESDO), vol. 2(6), pages 229-237, June.
    9. Cavallo, Alberto F. & Cavallo, Eduardo A., 2010. "Are crises good for long-term growth? The role of political institutions," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 838-857, September.
    10. Juan Federico & Joan-Lluis Capelleras, 2015. "The heterogeneous dynamics between growth and profits: the case of young firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 231-253, February.
    11. Tsun Se Cheong & Yanrui Wu, 2013. "Globalization and Regional Inequality," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 13-10, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    12. Corrado Andini, 2013. "How well does a dynamic Mincer equation fit NLSY data? Evidence based on a simple wage-bargaining model," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 1519-1543, June.
    13. Scott, K. Rebecca, 2011. "Demand and Price Volatility: Rational Habits in International Gasoline Demand," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt2q87432b, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    14. repec:eco:journ1:2014-03-08 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Ünal Töngür & Adem Yavuz Elveren, 2017. "The nexus of economic growth, military expenditures, and income inequality," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1821-1842, July.
    16. Briglauer, Wolfgang, 2014. "The impact of regulation and competition on the migration from old to new communications infrastructure: Recent evidence from EU27 member states," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-085, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    17. Piper, Alan, 2013. "A Note on Modelling Dynamics in Happiness Estimations," MPRA Paper 49364, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Piper, Alan T., 2014. "The Benefits, Challenges and Insights of a Dynamic Panel assessment of Life Satisfaction," MPRA Paper 59556, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Herbert Walther & Alfred Stiassny, 2013. "International Comparisons of Household Saving Rates and Hidden Income," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp148, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    20. Rezwanul Hasan Rana & Khorshed Alam & Jeff Gow, 2020. "The Impact of Immigration on Public and Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure in OECD Countries," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 485-508, June.
    21. Piper, Alan T., 2012. "Dynamic Analysis and the Economics of Happiness: Rationale, Results and Rules," MPRA Paper 43248, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Dec 2012.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:spr:snbeco:v:4:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s43546-023-00601-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.