Zimbabwe Rising Pubic Debt: How to Avoid a Stern Crisis?
Abstract
Zimbabwe’s debt has been considered unsustainable from within and
outside the country. Public debt management is the backbone of any sovereign
debt management entity. It is backed by a robust, well-functioning and
user-friendly system that allows governments to strengthen their debt
management environment. This manuscript aims to significantly contribute to the
extant literature on aspects that a nation like Zimbabwe requires to bail
itself from the prolonged public debt. Ideas and evidence will have derived
from research findings and lesson and experiences from other governments and
organisation. The manuscript will also bring out the theoretical aspect that
can be practical applied to have a sound public debt management. The discussion
will contain study findings and literature from past and present studies on
public debt management systems. The target audience will be leaders of public
enterprises, government officials from various ministry, the national budget
workforce or taskforce, finance ministry and other business players that either
directly or indirectly linked to national planning for debt management and
economic strategies. Zimbabwe as nation have gone through many transformative
stages since independence and some of the public debt have inherited from the
colonial government. The study concludes that it is fundamental for a debt
management system to meet the debt management office's evolving needs, while at
the same time differentiating among functions and coverage that are mandatory,
relevant, and desirable. This analysis derived from past and present studies
suggests that current systems can handle the critical functions and instruments
of debt management entities. However, if the nature of respondents' debt
portfolios evolves over time, system limitations may present challenges. One
clear takeaway is that those that are directly involved in national public debt
management should consider the ability of their debt management system to
interact with external (for example, financial management information system)
information technology platforms as an essential characteristic of their information
ecosystem.
Country : Zimbabwe
1 Chiyangwa Simbrisio2 Dr. Chipo Mutongi3 Nyoni Thabani
Midlands State University, Great Zimbabwe University City of Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
Midlands State University, Zimbabwe Open University, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe
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