PUBLIC DEBT AS AN INSTRUMENT OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL FINANCING: ADVANTAGES AND DRAWBACKS (Dlug publiczny jako instrument finansowania rozwoju lokalnego i regionalnego: zalety i wady)

The article is aimed at investigation of the influence of local national debt on local and regional development. The authoress explains the nature, types and typology of national debt and also the present debt of local government entities against a background of the EU realia and conditions. Next, she presents opportunities and threats connected with the use of national debt as an instrument for financing the development. A creative character of the local debt connected with collecting of means necessary for the realization of definite investment undertakings deserves special attention. Local and regional development is not possible without using debt instruments, and a high level of debt of local government entities cannot be explicitly assessed as negative since it often results from an expansive, favouring development investment strategy of local governments.