1. ABDUL SHAKOOR - Ph.D. Scholar at Department of Economic, University of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
2. Dr. ROOHI AHMED - Professor, Department of Economics, University of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
The United Nations Millennium Development declaration (2000) states a commitment “to making the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want”. Therefore, MDGs (2000-2015) primarily targeted developing countries' governments and were later replaced by the SDGs (2015-2030) having a global reach and targeting governments, businesses, and non-governmental organizations in both developed and developing countries. This study explores the impact of economic SDGs at disaggregated levels on economic growth (GDPGRO) with two dimensions environmental, and social goals. We have applied an ARDL (PMG) approach to panel data of selected SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries from 2000 to 2020 in this research. The results indicate the existence of a strong positive relationship between SDG8 (Decent work) and SDG17 (Partnership for global goals) on economic growth leading to job opportunities, reducing poverty, and inclusive growth. SDG9 (Industry, innovation, and infrastructure) and SDG10 (inequality) have a negative association with economic growth. Social sustainable development goals (SSDG) and Environmental sustainable development goals (ENSDG) have a negative correlation with economic growth. This may be due to increased spending on social programs. However, in the long run efficient implementation of environmental policies can reduce CO2 emissions thus positively enhancing economic growth. Policies targeting job creation, innovation, reducing inequality, partnership building, and promoting social and environmental goals are required to be implemented efficiently to ensure sustainable economic growth in these economies.
SDGs, Economic Goals, Economic Growth, ARDL PMG, SAARC Countries