Investigating the Causality between Economic Growth and Financial Inclusion: An Application of Bootstrap Panel Granger Causality Test

One of the issues that has attracted the attention of financial institutions, policymakers and researchers worldwide in recent years is the issue of financial inclusion. This is due to the vital role that financial inclusion can play in boosting economic growth, reducing poverty and inequality and improving the welfare of communities. Therefore, in this study, the causal relationship between economic growth and financial inclusion was examined. For this purpose, in the first step, the required index for financial inclusion is calculated using the multidimensional index for the ECO Countries over the period 2004-2018. then utilizing the Bootstrap Granger causality test, the issue was examined. The results show that in Iran, there is a two-way relationship between economic growth and financial inclusion. In Azerbaijan, the cause of economic growth is financial inclusion while in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey, financial inclusion is the cause of economic growth