ABSTRACT

 This research work is on the impact of external debt on Nigerian economic growth covering the periods of thirty-four years from 1980-2018. The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of external debt burden on economic growth in Nigeria. The data used for the analysis is secondary time series data sourced from CBN Statistical Bulletin and Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) publications in Nigeria. The methodology adopted for the study was ordinary least square (OLS) and economic views (E-views) were used to run the regression analysis of the data. From the result of the OLS, it is observed that external debt, external reserves and exchange rate are statistically significant in explaining its impacts on economic growth in Nigeria. Thus, external debt, domestic debt, external reserves and exchange rate have a positive relationship with economic growth in Nigeria while external debt servicing has a negative impact on Nigerian economic growth. The study concluded that the needfor borrowing is due to gap between domestic savings and investment; therefore, bridging the gap can be a likely solution to Nigeria's debt accumulation. Based on the findings of this research, the study recommended among others that there is the need for the provision of a favourable macroeconomic environment needed to reduce mismanagement so as to promote economic growth and development Also, Nigeria needs to diversify its revenue based on the bulk of the country's revenue earnings that comes from petroleum. The diversification from petroleum to other sectors will help build more revenue to boost development and also, debt servicing.