Measuring External Debt in a Context of Macroeconomic Imbalances

The exploitation of new methodologies and indicators is considered valuable in measuring a key macroeconomic indicator like the external debt. The recent Portuguese economic developments illustrate the need and usefulness of having a multidimensional approach of this indicator, with several balance of payment items, such as the current and the capital account balances, the foreign direct investment or the reserves assets being carefully analysed when reading the external conditions faced by the economy. Only such an approach can provide with a comprehensive measure of external debt consistent across the range of debt instruments, institutional sectors and valuation methods used. This paper develops an assessment of external debt measures and concludes about their potential advantages and disadvantages. Comparisons are made by focusing on alternatives like gross external debt against net external debt, external debt vis-h-vis international investment position, and external debt at nominal value against external debt at market value.

Does External Debt Promote Human Longevity in Developing Countries?Evidence from West African Countries

This study assessed the impact of external debt on longevity in developing countries,particularly in West Africa,from 1981 to 2020.Longevity was proxied by life expectancy at birth,while the study evaluated effects from external debt from the perspective of sustainability,liquidity,and solvency.Furthermore,outcomes from macroeconomic volatility were controlled through inflation and exchange rate variability.Methodologically,the robustness of inferences was ensured by using estimated outcomes from the cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag(CS-ARDL),dynamic common correlated effects(DCCE),and the Driscoll–Kraay(D–K)methods.Empirically,the study showed that unsustainable,illiquid,and insolvent external debt and macroeconomic volatility shorten longevity mainly in the long-term in West African countries.Hence,longevity will decline when weak external debt management promotes poverty in developing countries.

Issues and Perspectives on Nigeria＇s International Economic Relations

The integration of Nigeria＇s economy into the international capitalist system was a defining context of its international economic relations. The country was integrated into the international capitalist system as dependent, peripheral, neo-colonial formation. The nature of external debt, foreign direct investment and economic policy choices reflect the influence of the global north on Nigeria＇s international economic relations. The management of the national economy and external economic relations respond to the logic of externally defined economic policy choices. This article examines strands of Nigeria＇s international economic relations and it offers positions to mediate the country＇s peripheral status. The article prescribes state-led development paradigm and assertive state to address the country＇s underdevelopment and actualizes robust and assertive foreign economic relations. The state-led development paradigm negates the neo-liberal policy and its preference for state withdrawal. The article insists that the state should play leading role in the development process to reverse the country＇s underdevelopment and reequip its foreign economic relations.