RAWALPINDI: The outline of the Fourth Five-Year Plan is still not out of the woods — with the Finance Ministry continuing to have serious reservations about the country’s capacity to build up additional domestic resources envisaged in the outline, and the international aid climate not holding out any firm promise with some of the Aid to Pakistan consortium countries insisting on serious policy changes, including revaluation of Pakistani rupee. The Finance Ministry is learnt to be having serious doubts even about the resource effort recommended by the Planning Commission for the 1970-71 programme, which has to be reflected in the national Budget for the next year, to be announced on June 29, though it is said to be only about 10 per cent of the total effort contemplated for the next five years.

The position — particularly in regard to the 1970-71 programme — is believed to be under consideration at high level and the final decision is expected to be taken before the President leaves for Moscow on June 22 — as both the Finance Minister and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission are also going with him.

For the next year the Planning Commission is learnt to have recommended a programme of the size of Rs1,170 crore — Rs750 crore in the public sector and the balance in the private ­sector.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2020