The Impact of Debt Burden on the Well-being and Quality of Life of Citizens

Zambia faces a fiscal challenge common to many other underdeveloped nations in Africa: high, unsustainable debt burdens, fiscal mismanagement and undisciplined borrowing, poor resource allocation, government graft and corruption, trade revenue net outflows, volatile commodity markets of key exports—all of which impede economic growth and development. This paper analyses the relationship between debt burden and the well-being and quality of life of citizens. In the final analysis, Zambia needs legal reforms (policies and laws) that support sustainable domestic production systems and their interlinkages (domestic national income accumulation that effectively address poverty and inequality) to improve the citizens’ well-being and quality of life.