The results show that for developing countries there is a negative and significant
relationship between total external debt and economic growth, i.e. lower
total external debt levels are associated with higher growth rates. Further,
when distinguishing between public external debt and private external debt, we
find a negative relationship between public external debt and growth, but no
significant relationship when only considering private external debt. Therefore,
we conclude that the negative relationship between total external debt and economic
growth is driven by the incidence of public external debt levels, and not
by private external debt levels. Insofar as the channels through which external
debt accumulation affects growth are concerned, the results suggest that this is
mainly driven by the capital accumulation growth, with only limited evidence on
the relationship between external debt and total factor productivity growth. In
addition, private savings rates are not affected by external debt levels. Further,
we have found very limited evidence of nonlinear effects for these relationships.
When considering other debt indicators, such as interest payments and debt
services, the results suggest that there is no robust relationship between these
debt indicators and growth.