ISLAMABAD: The incumbent government has been unable to meet its major macroeconomic targets as set in the 11th five-year plan, but advancement had been made across all sectors.
An assessment carried out by Planning Commission revealed the govt failed to meet targets set in prioritized sectors like power generation and construction of road, reported Express Tribune.
This assessment was undertaken by Planning Commission to make way for preparation for the 12th Five-Year Plan for 2018-2023. The average gross domestic product growth rate was 4.4 percent for the first four years against target of 5.4 percent.
Service sector growth during these four years averaged at 5 percent against the target of 5.8 percent and large-scale manufacturing (LSM) growth averaged at 4.3 percent against target of 6 percent.
Agricultural sector average growth during these four years was recorded at 2.1 percent against target of 3.5 percent and industrial output average growth reached 5.1 percent against target of 6.3 percent.
After carrying out its assessment, Planning Commission concluded sluggish exports, rising current account deficit, low investments etc remained obstacles to maintaining economic development.
Many holes in governance across various sectors remain a challenge and Planning Commission observed the ease of doing business index didn’t see any major improvements in these four years.
Also, on part of the government the social service delivery also was abysmal during these four years, as per the Planning Commission’s assessment.
Government performance in areas which needed structural improvements remained abysmal as investment to GDP ratio touched 15.8 percent by end of FY 2016-18 compared to the target of 22.8 percent set in five-year plan. For this financial year, the government has set the investment to GDP ratio target at 17.2 percent.
Private investment also decreased as it was below the target of 16.7 percent. The national savings to GDP as per five-year plan was set at 21.3 percent, but it touched 13.1 percent by conclusion of last financial year 2016-17, which was even worse than 13.9 percent ratio in 2013.
Export target under the five-year plan till FY 2017-18 was set at $29.5 billion but the government failed to meet it with exports recorded at $20.4 billion. For FY 2017-18, the target is set at $23.1 billion.
The imports target for this period under five-year plan was set at $51.1 billion, which crossed $53.5 billion by end of financial year 2016-17 and indicates another major govt failure in reining in imports.
As per five-year plan, the government had targeted to control current account deficit to 1.2 percent by its end, but current data suggests, CA deficit will cross 4 percent of GDP during FY 2017-18.
Under this five-year plan, fiscal deficit was also to be reduced to 3.5 percent of GDP, which again the government failed in meeting. This year’s budget deficit has been estimated at 5.5 percent of GDP for FY 2017-18, which means the government would need to obtain more funds.
