IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jpolmo/v47y2025i1p166-186.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do debt relief and fiscal rules improve public debt sustainability? The experience of sub-Sahara African countries

Author

Listed:
  • Abubakar, Attahir B.
  • McCausland, W. David
  • Theodossiou, Ioannis

Abstract

The sub-Sahara African (SSA) region accounts for 33 of the 39 Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) with many of these countries facing challenges in public debt management. This paper examines issues that are key to improving the debt situation in the region. Specifically, the study investigates two key questions namely whether the adoption of fiscal rules and debt relief improve public debt sustainability. What factors reduce the public debt of SSA countries? Interestingly, the findings reveal that while debt relief improves debt sustainability, the imposition of fiscal rules threatens the debt sustainability of the region. Further, higher economic growth and increasing government balance are instrumental to reducing public debt. These findings have far-reaching policy implications for public debt management in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Abubakar, Attahir B. & McCausland, W. David & Theodossiou, Ioannis, 2025. "Do debt relief and fiscal rules improve public debt sustainability? The experience of sub-Sahara African countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 166-186.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:47:y:2025:i:1:p:166-186
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2024.06.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161893824001030
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2024.06.007?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 search for a different version of it.

    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:eee:jpolmo:v:47:y:2025:i:1:p:166-186. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505735 .

    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.