Pakistan’s five-year plans refer to a series of nationwide centralised economic plans and targets that are part of the country’s economic development initiatives. The plan was conceived by the ministry of finance. These are five-year economic plans put in place to boost the national economy of Pakistan. As the sets of five-year plans were initiated, some plans failed while some were successfully completed.
The sets of five-year plans began in 1950 and ended in 1999. These economic plans were replaced with the more effective programme known as the Medium Term Development Network (MTDN) under Prime Minister Shankar Aziz, who was in office from 2004 to 2007.
The five-year plans are eight in number, from the first to the eighth five-year plans. In each set of plans, there’s an interval of five years; that’s why it’s called a five-year plan. The first five-year plan was between 1955 and 1960; the second five-year plan was between 1960 and 1965; the third five-year plan was between 1965 and 1970; the fourth five-year plan was between 1970 and 1975; the fifth five-year plan was between 1978 and 1983; the sixth five-year plan was between 1983 and 1988; the seventh five-year plan was between 1988 and 1993; and then the eighth five-year plan, which is the last, was between 1993 and 1998. As the history from these five-year plans is long, I would like to give you a brief overview of the first to the eighth five-year plans recorded in the history of Pakistan. The explanation goes thus:
The first five-year plans were approved by the prime minister, Ali Khan, in 1950 for the period of 5 years from 1950 to 1955, though these economic plans were put into motion from the year 1955 to 1960. The aim of this first five-year plan was to enhance industrialisation and expansion of financial services; there was also a focus on agriculture and infrastructural development.
The second five-year plan dated back from 1960 to 1965; As there was failure of some of the first five-year plans, the programmers were revived and restated by the military government of President Ayub Khan. This set of economic plans gave the highest priority to heavy industrial development; improvements were made in communications and advancement and then in literature and science. The main purpose of the second five-year plan was to advance the country as far as possible within the period of five years. This programme also aimed at increasing the national income by 20%. There was foreign aid, particularly from the United States.
The third five-year plan was dated from 1965 to 1970; after the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war over Kashmir, the level of foreign assistance declined, and economic constraints were imposed on Pakistan. These economic plans promoted the activities of private sector investment and also focused on enhancing the financial sector. This programme successfully ran for the first three years of the third five-year plan, but at the end, the third programme proved to be a disappointment.
The fourth five-year plan was dated from 1970 to 1975. These economic plans were abandoned after the fall of Dhaka, East Pakistan. The fourth five-year plan was bypassed by the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. These plans were replaced with the nationalisation programme, which showed government ownership management of private entities. Only scientific aspects of the fourth five-year plan were adopted in a view to turn Pakistan into a major “scientific superpower” in the world.
The fifth five-year plan was dated from 1978 to 1983. The Zia government headed by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who was the then president of Pakistan, accorded more importance to planning. These economic plans made an attempt to stabilise the economy and improve the standard of living of the poor amongst the population.
The sixth five-year plan was dated from 1983 to 1988. These economic plans were designed to tackle some economic problems like low investments and savings ratios, low agricultural productivity, low spending on health and education, and heavy reliance on imported energy. The economy grew at the targeted average of 6.5% during the plan period.
The seventh five-year plan is dated from 1988 to 1993. These economic plans were introduced by the Benavides government. The plan gave more emphasis to private investment in all sectors of the economy than before. Public sector corporations were instructed to finance most of their investment programmes through profits and borrowing. The government established a working group on private investment for the eight five-year plans in August 1991.
The eighth five-year plan was dated from 1993 to 1998. The working group submitted its report in late 1992. In early 1994, the eighth plan had not yet been announced, mainly because the successive changes of government in 1993 forced ministers to focus on short-term issues.
Lastly, these eight sets of five-year plans were practised to solve economic problems of various sectors of Pakistan’s economy so as to achieve economic development.