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Purpose The effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth is widely believed to be contingent on the development of the financial sector. Nevertheless, as the possibility that the effect of financial development on growth being contingent on FDI has been neglected in existing literature, the authors have investigated it in this paper. In general, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of financial development and FDI on economic growth in Sudan using annual data from 1970 to 2014. Design/methodology/approach Since most of the macroeconomic variables are subject to unit root problem, the time series data are assessed using unit root and cointegration tests with/without structural break. Moreover, the study uses the fully modified ordinary least squares and the dynamic ordinary least squares techniques to estimate the long-run model. Findings The results of the cointegration tests provide evidence that a long-run relationship exists among variables even after accounting for the structural break. The results show that financial development and FDI are positive and significant in explaining economic growth in Sudan. Financial development is found to be more beneficial to economic growth than FDI. Moreover, the findings reveal that FDI leads to better economic performance through financial development. Interestingly, the findings of the study show that the effect of financial development on economic growth is further enhanced by the inflows of FDI. Research limitations/implications The government should focus on promoting FDI in more productive sectors. In addition, further cooperation with multinational enterprises is needed to increase FDI in the country. Originality/value This is the first paper that empirically examines both the interlinked impact of FDI on growth through financial development and the impact of financial development on economic growth through FDI in Sudan using appropriate econometric methods.

The current study investigated the association between out-of-pocket health expenditure and poverty using macroeconomic data from a sample of 145 countries from 2000 to 2017. In particular, it was examined whether the relationship between out-of-pocket health expenditure and poverty was contingent on a certain threshold level of out-of-pocket health spending. The dynamic panel threshold method, which allows for the endogeneity of the threshold regressor (out-of-pocket health expenditure), was used. Three indicators were adopted as poverty measures, namely the poverty headcount ratio, the poverty gap index, and the poverty gap squared index. At the same time, out-of-pocket health expenditure was measured as a percentage of total health expenditure. The results showed the validity of the estimated threshold models, indicating that only beyond the turning point, which was about 29 percent, that out-of-pocket health spending led to increased poverty. When heterogeneity was controlled for in the sample, using the World Bank income classification, the findings showed variations in the estimated threshold, with higher values for the low- and lower-middle-income groups, as compared to the high-income group. For the lower-income groups, below the threshold for out-of-pocket health expenditure, it had a positive or insignificant effect on poverty reduction, while it led to higher poverty above the threshold. Further, the sampled countries were divided into regions, according to the World Health Organization. Generally, improving health care systems through tolerable levels of out-of-pocket health expenditure is an inevitable step toward better health coverage and poverty reduction in many developing countries.

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Using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lags model, we confirm that the response of consumer prices to the changes in the exchange rate is asymmetric in the short and long run. The analysis reveals that moderate inflation is associated with currency depreciation while no material effect is observed during appreciation in the short run. In the long run, depreciation is passed through to consumer prices rather than appreciation. We find that 10 per cent depreciation in the Sudanese pound leads to approximately an eight percentage point increase in consumer price levels. The resultinflation in Sudan is largely driven by sharp depreciation episodessuggests the need to mitigate the disruptive effects of sharp depreciations. We find that the impact of oil price shocks on domestic inflation is insignificant, a finding that is consistent with the recent international evidence.

This paper re‐examines the government revenue and expenditure relationship in South Africa using Enders and Siklos' Threshold adjustment and Granger causality tests. The paper allows for structural breaks in the unit root and cointegration tests. The results indicate the absence of any asymmetries in both the threshold autoregression and momentum threshold autoregression specifications of adjustments in the South African's budgeting process. The estimated symmetric error‐correction models provide support for the fiscal synchronization hypothesis of government revenues and expenditures for long‐run and short‐run dynamic equilibrium. These findings indicate that the South African fiscal authorities should try to maintain or even improve the control of their fiscal policy instruments to sustain the prudent budgetary process.