Does South Africa's government debt threaten the sustainability of fiscal policy?

The South African government debt has risen alarmingly over the last decade, with the debt-to-GDP ratio increasing from 33% in 1985 to 57% in 1995. These debt movements, combined with historically high conventional deficits equal to 9.0% and 9.8% of GDP in 1993 and 1994 respectively, have cast doubt on the solvency of government. This paper considers the issue of government solvency by focusing on two questions. Firstly, "Are present fiscal policies sustainable?", and secondly, "What are the limits to future fiscal policy if government solvency is to be maintained?"

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

School of Economics

Year dc:date.issued

1996

Author dc:creator

• Biggs, Michael Llewellyn

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Abedian, Iraj

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10114

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/10114