Public Debt Service, Interest Rates and Fiscal Variables in Transition Countries

Public Debt Accumulation and Interest Rates in Canada 1974-1998

After a steady decline following World War II, the ratio of Canadian public sector debt to GDP reached a minimum of 6% in 1974. Between 1975 and 1995, this ratio increased until it reached a maximum of 81% in 1995. What were the causes of the accumulation of government debt in Canada between 1975 and 1995? How large were the respective contributions of high interest rates, low growth rates, the...

Fiscal decentralization and public debt

Excessive borrowing by subnational governments due to soft budget constraints and intergovernmental coordination failures might be one of the perils of decentralization. Despite a large body of case studies, empirical investigations on whether decentralization increases consolidated public debt levels are still scarce. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring econometrically for se...

Fiscal Performance, Public Debt and Fiscal Consolidation in Korea

As for the East Asian countries, the total amount of government debt in Korea has risen sharply over the following several years in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the current levels of government debt are sustainable for a severely attacked country, namely, Korea. Under the intertemporal budget constraint model, the study tests for fiscal ...

Federal Govemtnent Debt and Interest Rates

Inflation Stabilization, Fiscal Deficits, and Public Debt Management in Poland

Poland edged toward hyperinflation in the latter half of 1989, but inflation fell dramatically after drastic reforms were enacted in January of 1990. We analyze the consistency between fiscal deficits and inflation targets, and we assess Poland’s domestic and foreign debt management policies and the impact of the Brady debt reduction agreement on the relationship between fiscal deficits and inf...