Development 2.0--by Nadeem Ul Haque

Kh Asif with his caustic remark “if here had been a Planning commission then, Taj Mahal would not be built!’ I am glad that started a debate on this important issue and many people have written good articles on this subject. But first, let us tell Kh Asif that he is exactly right. Taj Mahal, an aging emperor’s whim should not have been built. Planning Commission was built to keep such whims in check. Recall Ayub Khan never interfered in Planning.    Go back to first principles. Democracy and our modern form of government believes in checks and balances in government. This means a) due diligence—research and evidence collection—for presentation to a decision-making forum and b) clear lines of responsibility between ministries to jealously look after their roles. If one ministry accumulates all power and decision-making then we go back to the days of an arbitrary Shah Jehan. Remember the world fought divine right of kings for centuries to develop democracy. The cabinet ...

http://magazine.thenews.com.pk/mag/moneymatter_detail.asp?id=7020&magId=10&catId=30 Architecture of economic policymaking We are a developing country. Our topmost priority needs to be economic growth and development. Yet we have no agency looking after growth and development. We leave all facets of economic policy in the hands of one ministry—the Ministry of Finance (MOF). Conflicted with many objectives, they naturally do a poor job. MOF must be held to some performance standard. For the last 30 years it has been unable to hold the line on expenditures and has never been able to put in a tax reform. A poor quality budget is passed with little planning for the needs of the economy. Soon after passage of the budget, MOF succumbs to demands for reallocation and overspending for unplanned incentive schemes, subsidies, and purchases of commodities as well as providing for losses of PSEs. Hardly a proposal from on high is refused. Reallocation and ...

I congratulate Ahsan Iqbal for adding the reform component to the Planning Commission. I wanted to do that but my good friend Hafeez Shaikh did not believe in reform. But Mr Iqbal must no go forward and reform the PC. I would like to put forward my thoughts for discussion as I believe reform without wide discussion is useless. If we want growth we must develop a planning process along the same lines of the SBP. This would mean an independent Planning Commission enshrined in law with a technocratic leadership. There should be no minister of Planning; the FM should only be in charge of the MOF. DCPC should be a tenured technocrat with a rank equivalent to a federal minister. DCPC must be a part of all high level decision-making bodies to present the considerations of long term growth and development. The PC should report directly to the PM. Subjects of the PC that are replicated in the MOF such as Poverty, reform and PSRP should be either dissolved or merged in the PC. Members ...

The Planning commission is the apex body for making visions and plans for the future of the country as well as for coordinating the medium-term Macroeconomic framework. The vision and plans for the future gave all departments in all levels of government guidance and direction for policy making and planning in all aspects of the economy. The medium term macro framework defines the longer term resource base as well as guidelines for fiscal discipline and planning. The planning process instills a certain discipline in government economic policymaking. Both these activities are based on a widespread consolation at all levels and hence the development of coherence and coordination in government. In conducting these activities, the planning process collectively identifies the opportunities and constraints for the coming period. Sadly we lost the planning process and focused only on projects. In the early days, when the country was young with limited infrastructure and in a post war e...

Reflections on Planning in Pakistan A frequent question is why I was not able to transform the country in my job as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission? Those who raise this question often seem to think that making good things happen is only a matter of giving the right orders. I call this the restaurant model of development. Like food you can order development off a menu. However, this is a complex question deserving of not just an answer but a serious discussion of how policy is made, what policy is and should be and why despite many announcements success eludes Pakistan? I have spent a lot of time reflecting on these issues and do have some views and would certainly like to discuss them. To begin with let us review how our government works. In all governments there is a power grab by ministers, agencies, PM and president, not to mention the vested interests who are constantly trying to capture the government. Policy decisions are arrived at through a long an...

Restoring the Planning Process The Planning commission is the apex body for making visions and plans for the future of the country as well as for coordinating the medium-term Macroeconomic framewor k. The vision and plans for the future gave all departments in all levels of government guidance and direction for policy making and planning in all aspects of the economy. The medium term macro framework defines the longer term resource base as well as guidelines for fiscal discipline and planning. The planning process instills a certain discipline in government economic policymaking. Both these activities are based on a widespread consolation at all levels and hence the development of coherence and coordination in government. In conducting these activities, the planning process collectively identifies the opportunities and constraints for the coming period. Sadly we lost the planning process and focused only on projects. In the early days, when the c...