Five-Year Plans of Pakistan

[1] The plan was conceived by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), and were studied and developed by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) based on the theory of Cost-of-production value, and also covered the areas of Trickle-down system.

[4] The first five-year plans were approved by the prime minister Ali Khan in 1950 for the period of 1950–55; it was accepted in a view to serve in the rapid and intensified industrialisation, expansion of banking and financial services, with a major focus on heavy industry.

Altogether, there were eight five-year plans (starting 1950 till 1999)[1] and were replaced with the more effective programme, the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) under Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz (office: 2004–2007).

[6] The partition had a major effect on the country's existing economic infrastructure that disrupted the wholesale transfers of population, trade and business, channels of communication, industrial and commercial organisation, and the pressing need to establish new provisional governments.

[6] The major economic infrastructure was quickly expanded and the hiring gap was filled as government revenue began to rise.

[6] The currency war with India following the devaluation of the British Pound Sterling and Indian refusal to recognize the Pakistani rupee in 1949 led to a deadlock in India-Pakistan trade.

[6] The Korean War brought about an economic boom but growth declined after the assassination of Liaqat Ali Khan in October 1951.

[6] Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin was forced to end the programme after requesting economic assistance from the United States and other friendly countries.

[8] Despite the failure of the first five-year plans, the programmes were revived and restated by the military government of President Ayub Khan.

The second five-year plans oversaw the development of water and power utilities in East and West Pakistan and had energy sector built with the help from private-sector.

[12] The second five-year plans were a quiet a big success but it was partially due to generous infusions of foreign aid, particularly from the United States.

Virtually all fourth five-year planning was bypassed by the government of Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The fourth five-year plan was replaced with the nationalisation programme which featured an intense level of government-ownership management on private entities.

Yet the plan failed to stimulate substantial private industrial investment and to raise significantly the expenditure on rural infrastructure development.

Of this total, 36.5% was designated for energy, 18% for transportation and communications, 9% for water, 8% for physical infrastructure and housing, 7% for education, 5% for industry and minerals, 4% for health, and 11% for other sectors.

This group, which included leading industrialists, presidents of chambers of commerce, and senior civil servants, submitted its report in late 1992.

However, 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.