Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently unveiled the ambitious Uraan Pakistan, a five-year economic plan aimed at building on the country’s nascent recovery to transform Pakistan into a trillion-dollar economy by 2035. Anchored in the PML-N’s five-point development agenda, the ‘5Es Plan’ focuses on exports, information technology, environment and climate, energy and infrastructure, and justice for all. It promises short- to medium-term solutions for economic stabilisation and growth under the National Economic Transformation Plan, with a target of achieving a sustainable 6% growth rate by 2028 and doubling exports to $60 billion in five years.
While the plan appears robust in intent, it falls short in offering concrete policy reforms or a clear strategy to address systemic economic challenges. The government’s track record on promised reforms, including retail tax and state-owned enterprise (SOE) restructuring, raises serious doubts about its ability to deliver. The establishment of a delivery unit at the Prime Minister’s Office to oversee implementation and ensure accountability is a step forward, but without structural reforms, this initiative risks becoming another bureaucratic exercise.
Moreover, the programme’s targets—such as attracting $10 billion annually in private investment—seem overly ambitious, especially in the context of Pakistan’s current economic realities. The state minister for finance has downplayed the focus on achieving these targets, framing the plan as a directional guide rather than a definitive roadmap. However, directional intent alone cannot address decades of political instability, policy inconsistency, and military-led disruptions that have stunted the economy.
The government’s contradictory policies further undermine Uraan Pakistan’s objectives. For instance, while the plan seeks to boost IT exports and foster start-ups, recent restrictions on internet speeds have jeopardised the tech sector’s growth potential, ignoring warnings of export losses. Such inconsistencies highlight a disconnect between ambition and action.
Political instability and policy unpredictability have long plagued Pakistan’s economic trajectory, but Uraan Pakistan offers no tangible solutions to these deep-rooted issues. By failing to articulate actionable policy reforms, the plan grants the bureaucracy leeway to evade accountability. Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, while essential, cannot substitute for the policy shifts needed to foster sustainable growth.
In its current form, Uraan Pakistan is a well-intentioned but overly optimistic vision, lacking the actionable strategies required to navigate Pakistan out of its economic quagmire. For the initiative to succeed, the government must demonstrate a genuine commitment to structural reforms and policy consistency. Otherwise, it risks being relegated to the growing list of unfulfilled promises that have historically defined Pakistan’s economic planning.
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