The Debt Growth Nexus in Developing Countries: Evidence from Analysis

This research was mainly conducted to include an examination of the evolution of external debt structure and burden in a number of developing countries in order to assess the impact of external debt on economic growth. The evolution of external debt structure and its indicators over the period (2000-2020) has been studied; also, the economic growth performance was analyzed simultaneously during the same period, which showed several developing countries have used external borrowing to accelerate growth over the last years, but the reality shows that the intense accumulation of these debts in some developing countries has become a real impediment to their economic growth and then development. Other countries, on the other hand, have been able to improve the volume of benefits from external borrowing, reduce its costs, and even reach high rates of growth and development. In general, developing countries should use their externally borrowed resources for productive purposes so that the government can generate revenue and have a better repayment capacity. This can lead to significant economic growth while also removing the debt's disincentive effect and attracting investment. To accomplish this, the government takes debt-based projects seriously in order to generate revenue and repay debt services on time. Furthermore, externally borrowed funds should not be diverted into current expenditure, loan repayment, or unproductive projects. Instead, the government should direct externally borrowed funds toward long-term investment projects, allowing the country's manufacturing sector growth rate to accelerate.