Analysis of public debt trends and poverty reduction in Malawi

How are poverty and debt related in the short run and long run in the context of a developing economy, such as Malawi? The novelty of the study is that it uses a unique data set spanning from 1983 to 2021 to examine the relationship between poverty and public debt in Malawi. The auto-regressive dist...

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Main Authors: Freeman Munisi Mateko, Alexis Habiyaremye, Oladipo Olalekan David, Gershon Obindah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Cogent Economics & Finance
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23322039.2025.2525480
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author Freeman Munisi Mateko
Alexis Habiyaremye
Oladipo Olalekan David
Gershon Obindah
author_facet Freeman Munisi Mateko
Alexis Habiyaremye
Oladipo Olalekan David
Gershon Obindah
author_sort Freeman Munisi Mateko
collection DOAJ
description How are poverty and debt related in the short run and long run in the context of a developing economy, such as Malawi? The novelty of the study is that it uses a unique data set spanning from 1983 to 2021 to examine the relationship between poverty and public debt in Malawi. The auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) model was employed in the study. Primary research findings revealed a positive relationship between public debt and poverty, both in the short run and the long run. An increase in public debt of 1% led to an increase in poverty levels by 37% in the short run and by 33% in the long run. These results imply that Malawi should address high public debt levels so as to improve the chances of attaining Sustainable Development Goal 1 of poverty reduction. In terms of policy recommendations, it was suggested that Malawi needs to develop an effective debt service plan and prioritize social security programs so that poverty levels are ultimately reduced.
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spelling doaj-art-2cb0601ac4d141f8bc146d4f5d1ac7132025-08-20T03:13:35ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Economics & Finance2332-20392025-12-0113110.1080/23322039.2025.2525480Analysis of public debt trends and poverty reduction in MalawiFreeman Munisi Mateko0Alexis Habiyaremye1Oladipo Olalekan David2Gershon Obindah3University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaUniversity of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaNorth-West University, Potchefstroom, South AfricaCovenant University, Ota, NigeriaHow are poverty and debt related in the short run and long run in the context of a developing economy, such as Malawi? The novelty of the study is that it uses a unique data set spanning from 1983 to 2021 to examine the relationship between poverty and public debt in Malawi. The auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) model was employed in the study. Primary research findings revealed a positive relationship between public debt and poverty, both in the short run and the long run. An increase in public debt of 1% led to an increase in poverty levels by 37% in the short run and by 33% in the long run. These results imply that Malawi should address high public debt levels so as to improve the chances of attaining Sustainable Development Goal 1 of poverty reduction. In terms of policy recommendations, it was suggested that Malawi needs to develop an effective debt service plan and prioritize social security programs so that poverty levels are ultimately reduced.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23322039.2025.2525480Economic developmenteconomic growthpovertypublic debtsustainable development goalsSustainable Development
spellingShingle Freeman Munisi Mateko
Alexis Habiyaremye
Oladipo Olalekan David
Gershon Obindah
Analysis of public debt trends and poverty reduction in Malawi
Cogent Economics & Finance
Economic development
economic growth
poverty
public debt
sustainable development goals
Sustainable Development
title Analysis of public debt trends and poverty reduction in Malawi
title_full Analysis of public debt trends and poverty reduction in Malawi
title_fullStr Analysis of public debt trends and poverty reduction in Malawi
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of public debt trends and poverty reduction in Malawi
title_short Analysis of public debt trends and poverty reduction in Malawi
title_sort analysis of public debt trends and poverty reduction in malawi
topic Economic development
economic growth
poverty
public debt
sustainable development goals
Sustainable Development
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23322039.2025.2525480
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AT gershonobindah analysisofpublicdebttrendsandpovertyreductioninmalawi