Government borrowing as a Ponzi scheme: the case of Bangladesh

Abstract

This study investigates whether government borrowing can be likened to a Ponzi scheme which will allow the government to roll-over its debt perpetually. The results show that, on the basis of the condition of maintaining real economic growth rate above and beyond the real interest rate on government debt, it will not be possible to sustain a perpetual Ponzi scheme of all four types of National Savings Certificates in Bangladesh. The government’s debt may be rolled over perpetually for two types of National Savings Certificates, following the condition outlined in Ball, et al. (1998), or for three types of National Savings Certificates following the condition outlined in Mehrotra (2017).