Govt may re-introduce 'five-year dev plan'

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FHM Humayan Kabir
The government is likely to make a major policy shift on its development expenditure plan as it has started to work on re-introducing the 'five-year development plan' that was discontinued since 2002, officials said.
"As the PRSP has been facing criticisms for its failure in streamlining the country's inclusive growth and sustainable development, the government is considering to re-introduce the five-year plan," a senior planning ministry official told the FE.
Two senior ministers and an adviser would sit today (Wednesday) to discuss the possibility and ways of reinstating the five-year development plan within the next few years.
Finance minister AMA Muhith, planning minister AK Khandakar and economic affairs adviser to the Prime Minister Dr. Masihur Rahman will sit today at planning ministry.
"The government is actively considering reintroduction of country's historical and homegrown five-year development plan. Now it is examining different possibilities to revert back," the planning ministry official said.
The government will be looking at two possibilities: reinstating only the five-year plan and discontinuing the present poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP) or following both the country's development document simultaneously, he added.
Bangladesh introduced the "five-year development plan" in July 1973 which continued until 2002. Later, the first PRSP was adopted in July 2005 by the BNP-led four-party alliance government.
The country has already completed the first PRSP period in FY2008 and introduced another one for three years from FY2009 to FY2011.
After seven-year absence of the five-year plan, the newly elected Awami League-led government has taken the initiative to change the nation's public investment policy due to criticism from different quarters about shortfalls in the ongoing the PRSP.
The critics including development activists and political leaders say the PRSP, not a homegrown document, has failed to ensure an inclusive and sustainable development of the country as it has no well-organized long-term goals, to be achieved within a certain period.
Another planning ministry official said the government was examining the Vietnam model where the five-year development plan and the donor-advised PRSP were being executed together.
He said it would be difficult to bring back the five-year development plan by scrapping the ongoing PRSP. So, the government is thinking of adopting both the documents and synchronize the implementation, he added.
The first five-year development plan in Bangladesh was launched in July 1973, which was followed by a two-year plan (1978-1980).
In July 1980 the five-year plan was reintroduced (1980-85) and since then two five year plans were implemented in succession. The fourth five-year plan ended in 1995, but it could not be immediately followed by another five-year plan.
For the next two years (1995-97) development administration proceeded on an ad hoc basis. Then came the next five-year development plan from July 1997.