Five-year development plans (FYDPs) have been devised and approved for the past several decades.
A large part of the country’s bureaucracy is tasked with writing them and the parliament’s commissions spend countless hours evaluating and approving them. Occasionally, correspondence is undertaken to ascertain the prospects of realizing the goals envisioned in the plans. All these processes can be meaningful, if the government’s approach is compatible with the plan. But when the performance of government agencies is not in line with with the plans, spending this huge amount of time and energy becomes questionable.
The authors of development plans are free to cite 8% or 6% growth but, in practice, the economy registers zero percent growth. Different figures could be set for the performance of government departments but when the government does not have the money, it is clear that these goals and figures will become pointless.
Ali Sarzaeem, an economist, prefaced an editorial for the Persian daily Donya-e-Eqtesad’s Monday edition with this note. A translation of the text follows:
What is clear is that if the current situation persists, the government in general — whether the one in office or other ones — will not have more time to work. Their best performance will be to maintain the status quo.
Small and big crises will occur all over the place. The government will assume the role of a fireman and is bound to put them out and take palliative actions to slightly calm the situation. In such a situation, there will be no hope for improvement and despair will continue to cast its shadow over the country.
Under what circumstances will the seventh development plan be meaningful? I believe that could be the case, only if it aims to change the current situation to a favorable one. Political and social instruments, besides economic requirements, should be provided.
The designers of the plan should confront the authorities and state the requirements of each path and specify the necessity for reform. This is a serious responsibility, because they need to adopt a method that can maintain political order and prevent chaos and anarchy.
A meaningful development plan should draw a roadmap of political, social and economic transformations and show what action should be taken at each stage.
Politics and economy need change; everyone agrees with this statement but how to change the roadmap is a matter of dispute. If the seventh FYDP presents a coherent roadmap for bringing about such a change and the existing political forces in the government agree with it, we can hope that the plan will become a valuable document and a guide for action.
However, if it turns out to be a carbon copy of previous development plans, both people and experts will turn a blind eye to it as it will not inspire interest.
