Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Economics Research Institute Study Paper

Volume

96

Issue

18

Publisher

Utah State University Department of Economics

Publication Date

1996

First Page

1

Last Page

26

Abstract

Subsaharan African states clearly labor under an extraordinary weight of external debt. A strong groundswell of opinion has fonned behind debt forgiveness efforts. The plight of Africa's poor demands serious response from creditors and donors, not bo mention their own governments. yet the common economic arguments for debt relief find little empirical support in SSA. In particular, there is no evidence of debt overhang serving as a tax on investment or GDP growth. The real problem of external debt in SSA is the heavy marginal tax it levies on current account receipts. Surely this contributes to persistent balance-of-payments crises. The most important dimension of debt relief for SSA states is, thus, less stock reduction than release from the foreign exchange demands of repayment.


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