The interim government announced on Wednesday that it will temporarily suspend the implementation of the country`s five-year plan as part of a shift in its economic strategy.
"We are suspending the five-year plan for now. It`s not our focus at the moment," Planning Adviser Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud told reporters during a briefing at the NEC conference room following the first Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting under the interim government, which was formed on August 8.
Dr. Wahiduddin, who also serves as the Education Adviser, explained that a government taskforce has been established to explore new directions for the country`s economy and its financing. "They will submit their report within three months," he said.
However, the government will not wait for the taskforce’s findings to start taking action. "We don`t need to wait for that. We`re already preparing new projects at a rapid pace," he added.
The adviser noted that while the country has made significant progress in infrastructure development in recent years, it lags in human resource investment, particularly in education and training. "We have to launch some new initiatives quickly in these areas," he stressed.
When asked whether the suspension of the 8th Five-Year Plan is a major policy decision, Dr Wahiduddin replied in the negative.
“There are no similarities between this plan and the national budget framed by the Ministry of Finance,” he added.
About the future of the 9th Five Year Plan, he said that the next political government would frame their plan as per their choices, “probably to turn Bangladesh as a higher middle-income country or developed country...we won`t take any major political decision. The Five-Year Plan is a political document which incorporates political directives and philosophy.”
The Eighth Five-Year Plan (8FYP), which covers the period from July 2020 to June 2025, was approved by the National Economic Council in December 2020 under the leadership of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It succeeded the Seventh Five-Year Plan and was the first major document aligned with the long-term ‘Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2021-2041.’
The 8FYP is a comprehensive policy framework that addresses issues ranging from an assessment of the Seventh Plan’s progress to macroeconomic strategies and sector-specific goals, setting both quantitative and qualitative targets for the country`s development.
