We have been borrowing regularly and progressively since the 1970s over the many decades that have ensued. We are continuing to pile debt upon debt. Borrowing to survive has become a habit. In fact, whenever a lender, be it a country or a financial institution, commercial or multilateral, FI, announces the grant or approval of our loan request, we celebrate.

Acquiring a debt is easy. The repayment thereof is the toughest. This is more true when borrowed money is used to finance luxurious lifestyles, instead of being deployed into revenue-generating assets. This habit is not new.... since the Mughal era, we have been doing this self-infliction of unhealable wounds. Benjamin Franklin had remarked: “Creditors have better memories than debtors”. If and when the country or an individual debtor is in trouble, it is not the friends who rally around to extend support, it is the Creditors who make a beeline.

The financial debt arises out of our inability or unwillingness to generate revenue to meet the ever-growing expenditures, which in turn are mostly domiciled in the domain of non-productive areas. Expenditure relating to the deployment of capital is very low. Capital expenditure has an inbuilt promise of becoming a productive source in the future,........

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