Others

GED initiated the preparation of the Mid-term Implementation Review of the Eighth Five Year Plant of 8FYP. The Policy Research Institute (PRI) – a reputed consulting firm of Bangladesh specializing in Economic issues was recruited to provide the consultancy services in preparing this report. In between, GED collected input/feedback on the implementation progress of 8FYP from concerned ministries/divisions and organized two workshops on 15 March 2023 on the received input. After the workshops, all ministries/divisions were requested to provide/correct/modify their input/comments again. In the whole process, concerned officials from GED were actively in touch with the focal persons from ministries/divisions. Once the draft of the report was prepared, GED conducted another consultation workshop with ministries/divisions on 23 August 2023 for their on the draft report. The final report incorporated all the information and feedback received from the ministries/division. GED also formed a technical committee comprised of representatives from various government organizations, i.e., Finance Division (FD), Economic Relations Division (ERD, Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), and Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). This committee sat several times to critically review the macroeconomic aspect of the draft review report and recommended it accordingly.

The 7th Five-Year Plan of Bangladesh was formulated with the primary objective of achieving accelerated economic growth, reducing poverty, improving human development indicators, and fostering equitable socio-economic progress. It was a crucial milestone for Bangladesh as it sought to address various developmental priorities and propel the nation toward sustainable growth and inclusive development. The plan incorporated a comprehensive set of strategies, policies, and programs spanning various sectors, including agriculture, industry, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and social protection. These initiatives aimed to leverage the country’s potential, capitalize on emerging opportunities, and address the persistent challenges faced by Bangladesh. A rigorous approach and methodological framework were followed for the End Evaluation of the 7th Five Year Plan. This requires a comprehensive understanding of the Plan documents (i.e., the Seventh Plan and the Perspective Plan) and their development results frameworks (DRFs); the collection and analysis of relevant data; and the provision of insightful assessments that are not limited to merely describing the data but also providing rationale. Analysis of quantitative data has been supplemented with qualitative data obtained from a desk review of various policy documents and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and information received from the ministries and divisions. GED formulated this report after brief consultations with executing ministries/ divisions. In this process, concerned officials from GED were actively in touch with the focal persons from ministries/divisions.

The fist Perspective Plan of Bangladesh covering 2010 to 2021 is being implemented under two five year plans – namely the Sixth Five Year (2010-2015) and the Seventh Five Year (2016-2020). The Sixth Five Year plan has already been implemented. During the implementation of the Sixth Plan two evaluations were carried out – one in 2012 and the other one in 2014. The Seventh Five Year Plan was adopted in 2016 covering 2016 to 2020 period. Successful implementation on any plan – short, medium and long – depends critically on the rigorous monitoring of targets. Following that tradition, review of the implementation of the fist two years of the 7th FYP have been conducted. The main findings of the implementation review of the 7th FYP have been discussed in this report.

The Handbook will act as a guideline for identifying future projects/programmes in attainting quantitative and qualitative targets set in the 8FYP. Besides, the Ministries/Divisions can use it to monitor the progress based on the targets set in the 8FYP. This Handbook is the second of its kind since the introduction of Five-Year Plan in Bangladesh. The fist one was prepared during the Seventh Five Year Plan period. However, GED is organizing a series of training workshops for the Govt. officials on the “Implementation of the 8FYP & SDGs”. This document will help the officials to be acquainted with their respective Ministry’s objectives/targets to be attained during the plan period. GED hopes that in accordance with this Handbook, the Ministries/Divisions will expedite actions to implement their respective targets.

For the first time in the history of economic planning in Bangladesh, the Sixth Five Year Plan introduced the concept of results-based monitoring and evaluation (RBME). This was done to be consistent with the spirit of indicative planning whereby the Sixth Plan was conceived as a living document that would be monitored for results, and changed and adapted in light of these outcomes and changing global and domestic economic environment.

The Sixth Five Year Plan (2011-2015) seeks to accelerate growth and reduce poverty. With the completion of the second year of the Plan, the Government believes it is important to evaluate the implementation progress with a view to understanding how well the Plan is being implemented, what policies are working, what are the emerging constraints, and what needs to be done to make mid-course corrections.

In October 20, 2015, National Economic Council (NEC) headed by the Honourable Prime Minister approved The Seventh Five Year Plan (FY2016-FY2020) entitled “Accelerating Growth, Empowering Citizens”. The plan succeeded the Sixth Five Year Plan and serving as a principal document to continue the unfinished agenda of The Perspective Plan of Bangladesh: Making Vision 2021 a Reality. The Seventh Five Year Plan is a vast policy and strategic document encompassing a wide array of issues ranging from assessment of progress made in the Sixth Five Year Plan to macroeconomic framework to sector specific strategies setting quantitative and qualitative targets. For this reason, it is seemingly a colossal task to identify both quantitative and qualitative targets set in the plan by the respective Ministries/Divisions for implementation