Islamabad: Global economic expert Professor Stephen Derickson’s economic growth plan based on the 5Es framework has had limited impact, prompting the Pakistani government to develop a new 5-year economic plan aimed at increasing the country’s economy to $1 trillion. However, experts state that key targets in this plan cannot be achieved unless all restrictions, including the firewall imposed on social media, are lifted.
The new five-year plan aims to increase the literacy rate to 70% and reduce the poverty rate to 13%. This plan has been prepared by the Ministry of Planning and will soon be launched by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Earlier, British economist Professor Stephen Derickson had developed an economic plan for Pakistan’s growth, but it had little effect.
It is worth mentioning that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) government installed a firewall worth Rs 39 billion to control social media, which severely impacted the information technology sector and hindered the government’s economic growth objectives. Experts believe that these important goals cannot be achieved until the firewall is removed.
Under the government’s 5Es economic development plan, Pakistan aims to become a $1 trillion economy by 2035. However, in the current economic climate, it does not seem likely that the economy will exceed $500 billion over the next decade.
The government’s plan aims to achieve an annual growth rate of 9.8% over the next five years to reach the $1 trillion economy target by 2035. Speaking to Express, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal stated that in the next 23 years, Pakistan and India will have been independent for 100 years, but “do we know where we will stand by 2047?”
In response to a question, Ahsan Iqbal mentioned that the government’s plan is a strategic document, while Professor Stephen’s economic program is a separate initiative, and the government intends to implement both simultaneously.
According to this economic development document, the plan will be executed in the form of 13 five-year plans, which will be uniformly applied across all ministries and provinces. In the energy sector, the goal is to increase the share of renewable energy sources to 10%, reduce subsidies, and minimize circular debt while keeping the energy sector functional.
In the transportation sector, the plan aims to increase the share of railways in passenger transport from 5% to 15% and the share in freight transport from 8% to 25%. This will require the completion of the ML-1 project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The plan also ensures the creation of 1.5 million new jobs annually, along with improvements in the health sector, aiming to improve Pakistan’s rank in the global Human Development Index. Furthermore, the plan includes ensuring the completion of primary education for 28% of the population and increasing the enrollment rate in secondary education to 43%.
