Energy prices volatility, natural resource policy-making and green economic recovery in post COVID-19 era: Evidence from BRICS countries

The connectedness of natural resource volatility and economic growth has been an area of central attention for academicians and researchers before and even after the COVID-19 pandemic. The global as well as the Asian financial crises have negatively impacted the natural resources and economic growth of countries. Literature lacks the impact of crises on natural resources especially in BRICS economies. Hence, the current study examines the agriculture, livestock, crude oil, metal, and, coal-based natural resource commodities in determining the sustainable economic growth of BRICS countries. To achieve the objectives, data from the GSC index (Goldman Sachs Commodity Index) and different World Bank indicators is collected over a period from 2002 to 2022 which also includes the era of Post COVID-19 pandemic. Augmented dicky fuller test is used to explore the stationarity of constructs while ECM (error correction model) and Granger causality test are used to capture the connectedness between the explanatory and dependent variables. The empirical results infer that prices of commodities based on agriculture, livestock, oil, coal, and valuable metals are positively linked with sustainable economic performance in BRICS Countries. The results may be supportive of accelerating economic growth by improving the extraction and consumption of natural resources, livestock, agriculture, precious metals, oil, and coal.