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This study investigated the nexus between financial development and economic growth, exploring the short-run and long-run impact of financial development on economic growth in the Sothern African Development Community (SADC). The SADC was fragmented into middle-income countries and low-income countries so as to ascertain the income effect on the nature of the relationship, an exploration not considered by previous studies. The study used panel data covering the period 1980 to 2020. It employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds and the Toda and Yamamoto and Dolado and Lütkepohl (TYDL) models to examine the relationship and the direction of causality respectively. In the short run, financial development, through domestic credit to the private sector, spurs economic growth and in the long run financial development focus should be on promoting bank deposits. Causality tests between economic growth and financial development tests showed mixed results depending on the variable used for measuring financial development. In addition, the SADC countries are encouraged to strengthen their financial sector legislation, strategies, and banking system supervision so as to enhance the financial sector efficiency as well as to realise the benefits of financial innovation.

This study aims to identify the convergence of financial sector development and the effect of macroeconomic variables on each financial sector development indicator in Asia. The sample used consists of 24 countries in Asia during the period 2010-2018. Identification of convergence using ?-convergence absolute and conditional. Indicators are used to represent the development of the financial sector namely private credit, liquid liabilities, stock market capitalization, and stock market turnover. Empirical evidence was based on the Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) estimation technique. The results showed that there was convergence in Asia and that macroeconomic variables had a significant effect on the development of the financial sector.

Both in Turkey and in the world in 1980 was a year of major structural transformations. Globalization has been accelerated in this time and countries have implemented some liberal policies for opening borders to foreign capital. Economies began to be led by export-oriented industrialization and liberalization policies after 1980 and these policies continue since then. Turkey is one of these countries that began liberalization after 1980. While decreasing trade barriers exerts a downward pressure on prices trade liberalization represents a structural break. This study aims to examine the relationship between trade openness and inflation over the period 1980-2011 for Turkey by using OLS method. The proportion of foreign trade volume (exports plus imports) to GDP and real exchange rates are used as measures of trade openness besides inflation rate. As a result of the study, it has been determined that there was a negative correlation between trade openness and inflation rate for the dedicated years in Turkey. The effects of crisis and election years in Turkey have been also tested and found statistically insignificant.

 This paper utilizes the Least Squares Dummy Variables (LSDV) technique in investigating the effect of financial depth on economic growth within a sample of middle-income countries, over the period 2005–2017. The research finds that financial depth has a negative impact on real GDP growth within middle-income countries. This result is robust to the use of alternative measures of financial depth, the use of per capita GDP growth as a proxy for economic growth, the inclusion of dummy variables to control for the 2007–2010 global financial crisis, the exclusion of countries with high average growth as well as across income levels. Based on its findings, this study recommends the need for robust regulations to ensure that the credit facilities of domestic financial institutions are channeled towards productive investments rather than debt servicing.

The aim of this study is to investigate impacts of monetary policy transmission mechanisms on production and prices in theoritical way and to test functioning of monetary transmission channels in Azerbaijan economy. In this article, vector error correction model (VECM) is employed for short and long run  relationships in the period of 2001:4-2014:3. Results reveal that, both interest and credit channels are important, with a bit precedence of credit channel in comparison for Azerbaijan economy.

The Marshall-Lerner condition states that a trade balance improves after currency depreciation if trade elasticities exceed one. Using the Vector Error Correction Method (VECM), this study tests the condition for South Africa, focusing on how exchange rate changes affect the trade balance under a floating exchange rate regime. The analysis examines short- and long-run impacts on exports and imports to assess whether exchange rate adjustments can improve the trade balance. Findings reveal that global income growth and exchange rate appreciation positively influence exports, while imports increase with both appreciation and higher domestic income. Although exports and imports respond strongly to exchange rate changes, the Marshall-Lerner condition does not hold for South Africa, suggesting that exchange rate adjustments alone may not improve the trade balance.

The present study aims to examine the relationship between exchange rate undervaluation and economic growth in South Africa, focusing on the various transmission mechanisms through which this relationship occurs. Through the adoption of secondary quarterly data spanning the period 1980 to 2018 and a two-step Generalised Method of Moments approach. The study estimated a Behavioural Equilibrium Exchange Rate of South Africa and used it to construct a measure of Exchange rate undervaluation. Further, the study examined the effects of Exchange rate undervaluation on the tradable sector, the savings/capital accumulation sector, and the total factor productivity sector. The study found evidence of the tradable sector and total factor productivity (TFP) channels in South Africa. Therefore, we conclude that there exist valuable lessons to be learnt through the analysis of this relationship on a micro level compared to a macro level. Macro-level studies overlook the individual effects, hence why results have been inconclusive. This, therefore, means that South Africa has an incentive to keep the Rand at a competitive level since the industrial and agricultural sectors benefit from a competitive Exchange rate.

This study investigates the dynamic relationship between credit supply and demand shocks and household consumption in South Africa using a quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) model. Motivated by the increasing reliance of South African households on debt amid stagnant income growth, rising living costs, and persistent unemployment, the research aims to understand how credit market conditions influence consumption across different segments of the income distribution. Drawing on data spanning from 1970 to 2024, the study incorporates key macroeconomic variables including real GDP per capita, household income per capita, household debt as a percentage of GDP, the credit-to-GDP ratio, inflation, interest rates, and the unemployment rate. The QARDL framework allows for the estimation of both short-run and long-run relationships while accounting for heterogeneity across consumption quantiles. The results indicate that household consumption is more responsive to income shocks and credit availability in the lower and middle quantiles, suggesting heightened sensitivity among poorer households. Credit supply, proxied by the credit-to-GDP ratio, exhibits weak but positive short-run effects, while household debt consistently exerts a negative influence on consumption across all quantiles and time horizons, with stronger effects in lower quantiles. These findings highlight the consumption-depressing effects of excessive debt, especially for financially vulnerable households. Moreover, macroeconomic stability indicators such as inflation and interest rates are found to negatively affect consumption, particularly in lower quantiles, underscoring the uneven transmission of monetary policy. The empirical results support the hypothesis that household debt contributes to financial fragility and undermines consumption over time, while credit supply shocks play a more modest role. The study concludes that policies aimed at improving income stability, managing household debt levels, and enhancing financial inclusion—particularly for low-income groups—are essential for sustaining household consumption and promoting inclusive economic growth in South Africa.

Several official dating institutions viz: SARB, NBER, OECD, CEPR, and others, provide Business Cycle (BC) chronologies with lags ranging from three months to several years. This is problematic for the various oppressed as it poses limits to the usefulness of BC indicators in terms of forecasting and policy implementation at large. In this article, we propose the construction of composite indicators as accurate measures of business cycles in South Africa. We use this composite index to facilitate comparison of both a non-parametric Bry and Boschan dating algorithm and a parametric Markov Switching dating method, in terms of performance and accuracy of dating business cycle turning points in South Africa. Utilising data spanning the period 2000M1 – 2018M12, empirical evidence obtained is such that, composite indices are better than single indicators due to information rich. Further, while the parametric and non-parametric methods’ performances are matched in terms of the number of turning points identified, however, the non-parametric method is more accurate in identifying these turning points. Due to its accuracy the non-parametric method proved to be a promising method of dating business cycle turning points in South Africa and alleviate the problems which are currently facing the South African Reserve Bank, the private sector and the economy at large.

The article reports on the complementarity and substitutability of Macroprudential and Monetary policies in South Africa, based on the interactions of both Business and Financial cycles. To this end, a Dynamic Conditional Correlations and the Asymmetric Dynamic Conditional Correlations MGARCH models together with the Granger Causality model, the Artificial Neural Network VAR model, and the Structural VAR model, were adopted for the analyses of synchronization, causality, and the analysis of shocks to cycles, respectively. Empirical evidence obtained is such that, under conditions of financial and real economic stress in South Africa, there exists high synchronicity and bidirectional causality between CBCI and CFCI. Hence, Macroprudential and Monetary policies become complements, there exists interdependence between the two policies and actions of one policy contributes to the improvement of the other. However, under normal times there exist no synchronicity and a unidirectional causality relationship running from CBCI to CFCI, was observed. Under such conditions, Macroprudential and Monetary policies become substitutes, therefore, the two policies become independent of each other, hence, only one policy can achieve the desired outcome. Overall, a shock to one cycle is a major determinant of the fluctuations of the other cycle.