This paper estimates the relationship between financial development and millennium development goals for poverty, education, gender equality and health by providing evidence from the South Asian countries. Ordinary least square model is applied with panel data approach, OLS regression which consider the issues of relationship between financial development, economic growth as control variable and millennium development goals and getting evidence from the South Asian countries surveyed during the period of 1970-2013. We find that the results of regression stated that a sound financial development system is very important to get achievement because it gives the way to improve the MDGs goals for poverty, education, gender equality and health. We also found that financial development has diminishing marginal impact on MDGs and the results are consistent with the (Rosner, 2011). Moreover, the study concluded that need for improving the opportunities for deposit savings in the banks rather than the entrance to credit, which having very large impact on the attainment of millennium development goals.

1. Ahmed, A., & Cleeve, E. (2004). Tracking the millennium development goals in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Social Economics, 31(1/2), 12-29. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03068290410515394
2. Barro, R. J., & Lee, J. W. (2013). A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950-2010. Journal of Development Economics, 104, 184-198. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.10.001
3. Beck, T., Demirguc-Kunt, A., & Levine, R. (2004). Finance, inequality, and poverty: Cross-country evidence (Working Paper No.10979). National Bureau of Economic Research.
4. Bourguignon, F., Benassy-Quere, A., Dercon, S., Estache, A., Gunning, J. W., Kanbur, R., … & Spadaro, A. (2010). The millennium development goals: An assessment. In R. Kanbur & M. Spence, (Eds.), Equity and growth in a globalizing world. Washington DC: World Bank Publications.
5. Carstens, H. A., & Palanivel, T. (2003). Pro-poor growth and policies: The Asian experience (The Quaid-i-Azam memorial lecture). The Pakistan Development Review, 42(4), 313-348.
6. Chowdhury, A., & Islam, I. (2011). Attaining the millennium development goals: The role of macroeconomic policies. International Journal of Social Economics, 38(12), 930-952. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03068291111176301
7. Claessens, S., & Feijen, E. (2007). Financial sector development and the millennium development goals (Working Paper No. 89). Washington DC: World Bank Publications.
8. Fafchamps, M., & Shilpi, F. (2014). Education and household welfare. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 63(1), 73-115. https://dx.doi.org/10.1086/677805
9. Fehling, M., Nelson, B. D., & Venkatapuram, S. (2013). Limitations of the millennium development goals: A literature review. Global Public Health, 8(10), 1109-1122. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2013.845676 PMid:24266508 PMCid:PMC3877943
10. Lee, J. W., & Barro, R. J. (2001). Schooling quality in a cross-section of countries. Economica, 68(272), 465-488. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-0335.00257
11. Levine, R. (2005). Finance and growth: Theory and evidence. In P. Aghion & S. N. Durlauf (Eds.), Handbook of economic growth (pp. 865-934). Amsterdam, Netherland: Elsevier.
12. Mathbor, G. M., & Ferdinand, P. A. (2008). Progress or regress of the millennium development goals: South Asian perspective. Journal of Comparative Social Welfare, 24(1), 49-64. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17486830701848761
13. Nayyar, D. (2013). The millennium development goals beyond 2015: Old frameworks and new constructs. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 14(3), 371-392. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2013.764853
14. Reddy, S., & Heuty, A. (2005). Peer and partner review: A practical approach to achieving the millennium development goals. Journal of Human Development, 6(3), 399-420. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14649880500288637
15. Rosner, B. (2010). The impact of financial development on poverty in developing countries. UCLA Undergraduate Journal of Economics, 1(2), 1-10.
16. Rosner, B. N. (2011). Financial development and the MDGs for education, gender equality, and health. Undergraduate Economic Review, 8(1), 1-45.
17. Sarkar, H. (2007). The nexus between achieving the millennium development goals and economic growth: The role of policy. Asia-Pacific Development Journal, 14(1), 1-24.
18. Stewart, F. (2003). Conflict and the millennium development goals. Journal of Human Development, 4(3), 325-351. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1464988032000125737
19. World Bank. (2001). Engendering development. Washington DC, WA: The World Bank.
20. The World Bank. (2011). Conflict, security, and development. The World Bank, Washington DC, WA. Available at https://goo.gl/1jMSYL

Kamran, M. R., & Zhao Z. (2016). Millennium & financial development goals: Economic indicators perspective of South Asian countries. International Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 2(4), 133-151.