Impact of digital finance on economic growth in asian emerging economies: The moderating role of financial inclusion

Abstract

The paper assesses the impact of digital finance and financial inclusion on economic growth of
emerging economies in Asia. The study utilizes panel empirical approaches on a sample of macroecnomic
indicators across 11 countries over the time frame from 2010 to 2022. The research findings add more value
to the research field of digital finance and financial inclusion by providing significant empirical evidence
on the positive impact of digital finance and financial inclusion on the economic growth. Besides, another
novel contribution of this paper lies on the successful discovery of the moderation of financial inclusion
in the nexus between digital finance and economic growth. Correspondingly, in countries with relatively
higher financial inclusion levels, the impact of digital finance on economic growth will be inflated and more
effective. This suggests that emerging countries should place the focus in finding solutions and measures
to improve financial inclusion aiming at leveraging the contribution of digital finance to the national
economic development.