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Firms in imperfect markets find it impractical to monitor price changes created by the market and rival firms and change their prices accordingly. Instead, they will find it much easier to alter intangible investments in response to observed disequilibrium. Generally, such intangible investments will be guided by the expectation about the demand that firms can visualize (based on their profit maximization considerations). The resulting excess supply in production is at the apex of the business cycles observed in imperfect markets. Such cyclical behavior cannot be stabilized by demand oriented economic policies. The study therefore suggests a fundamental reorientation in the macroeconomic theory and policy in imperfect markets for goods as well as financial markets.

This article examines the effect of budget deficits on exchange rate regimes in the ECOWAS region. The empirical literature dealing with the problem of choosing an appropriate exchange rate regime generally relies on the analysis of logit models. This type of model has proved to be an effective tool for characterising the relationship between the typology of exchange rate regimes and their determinants. This article follows a similar methodological line by exploiting the World Bank database covering the period 2000-2020. Our results show that the budget deficit has a significant impact on the choice of exchange rate regime. Our estimates also show that financial development, inflation and political stability are also determinants in the choice of an exchange rate regime. The empirical results highlight that the optimal regime depends strongly on the macroeconomic challenges facing the region and its situation.

Keywords: Deficit, exchange rate regime, inflation, ECOWAS.

JEL classification: C51, C54, C58, E58, F36

This article delves into a comprehensive analysis of how inflation, poverty, unemployment, and population growth impact the economic growth of India utilizing time series data spanning from 1990 to 2021. To ascertain the stationarity of the variables, unit root testing is conducted, while the asymmetric nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag technique (NARDL) is employed to uncover the interplay among these variables, considering both shortrun and longrun dynamics. The findings reveal several key relationships. Inflation and poverty exhibit negative connections with economic growth, suggesting that they can hinder progress. Conversely, unemployment displays a positive association with economic growth, indicating a complex interplay between joblessness and economic development. Additionally, population growth demonstrates a negative correlation with economic growth, highlighting its impact on both the shortrun and longrun dynamics. Unemployment and inflation have emerged as critical concerns in India, necessitating the implementation of effective government policies to address these issues and stimulate economic advancement. By acknowledging these findings, policymakers can devise strategies to alleviate poverty, control inflation, reduce unemployment, and manage population growth, consequently fostering sustainable economic progress in India.

Keywords: Inflation; Unemployment; Poverty: Economic Growth; NARDL.

JEL: C25, E32, E37, E51

The paper examined the optimal inflation argument in the economic literature using Ghana’s data to ascertain the asymmetric inflationary effects on economic activities. The threshold econometric methodology was deployed to the investigate the existence of optimal inflation in Ghana. The study found that there is a presence of optimal inflation threshold for Ghana as it was evidenced that inflation rate higher than the optimal inflation had a negative impact on economic growth while inflation below the optimal rate inflation was growth enhancing. This findings from this paper suggests that policymakers for that matter should take cognizance of this key information to inform future policy decisions and actions that affect both economic growth and inflation as unmeasured fiscal and monetary policies that affect inflation could be inimical to growth prospects in the domestic economy. The study therefore recommends that price stability should continuously be a key monetary policy target by the Central Bank of Ghana and all efforts should be geared towards its achievement as uncontrolled inflation could inhibit economic growth in the domestic economy.

Keywords: Optimal inflation, threshold, economic growth, monetary policy, Ghana

The impact of government expenditure, unemployment, inflation, and household consumption on the economic growth of India over the period 1990-2021 has been examined in this paper. The ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis was performed by observing the assumptions of the classical linear model. Augmented DickeyFuller (ADF) and PhilipsPerron (PP) tests were carried out for the stationarity of the concerned variables. The study found that increasing government expenditure has a strong positive influence on the growth of national income and consumption and a negative influence on unemployment in India. The study recommends increasing government expenditure that could accelerate economic growth and create employment opportunities that also have a positive impact on improving consumption. Results indicate that inflation significantly depresses economic performance in India because of uncertainty and reduces investment, employment, and consequently output and consumption level. Unemployment has not significantly impacted the real GDP in India. Investment in physical capital and human capital has significantly promoted economic performance in India because investment in human capital improves the productivity of the labor forces and hence increases output and investment in physical capital increases the amount of capital per unit of labor and these have the potency of increasing productivity per worker. The overall effect is an increase in output and therefore economic performance. The study recommends increasing government expenditure as it boosts aggregate demand which could accelerate economic growth and create employment opportunities and enhance the consumption level of the public.

Keywords: Unemployment, Government Expenditure, Inflation, Consumption, Output Growth;
JEL: C25, E32, E37, E51

This study examines the effects of the exchange rate on foreign reserves in Nigeria, using time series data obtained from 1986 to 2021. The study employed the

autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach for its statistical analysis and concludes that the exchange rate has a positive and significant effect on foreign reserves in the short run while in the long run exchange rate has a negative and significant effect on foreign reserves. Thus, based on the inverse relationship between the exchange rate and foreign reserves in the long run, it is therefore recommended that policymakers should adopt a prudent policy to deal with the problem of exchange rate fluctuation to maintain stability in Nigeria’s foreign reserves.

Keywords: Foreign reserve, exchange rate, Real GDP, Interest rate, Inflation rate, Broad money supply.

The ability of a business to bring in money is essential to its survival. Because the sectors that make up Nigeria’s productive sector lack adequate financial resources, the country has created a poor internal control structure and lax laws in recent years. The financial results of SMEs in Kebbi State, Nigeria were analyzed to ascertain the advantages of implementing an efficient internal control system. A descriptive survey approach was used for the investigation. CEOs, managers, and internal control units in Kebbi State SMEs estimated that 2,200 people would be employed there in 2022. A total of 338 study participants were recruited using a rigorously random approach. The five hypotheses were tested using a questionnaire the researchers developed themselves and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Analysis with a twotailed test of significance at the P0.01 level. According to the findings, SMEs in Kebbi State, Nigeria may save money by adopting several components of internal control. The economic success of small and mediumsized

enterprises (SMEs) in Kebbi State, Nigeria, is influenced by several factors, including the presence or absence of key internal control components. The research recommends that SMEs conduct financial audits on a regular and timely basis to assist them to spot problems in their financial systems and performance. Small and mediumsized enterprise (SME) leaders should conduct an annual evaluation of the financial reporting process and implement an internal auditing system to monitor performance.

Keywords: Control activities, Financial performance, Internal control, Risk assessment, SMEs,

JEL Classification: G30, M41, Q56