ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

Appraisal of Development Strategies

 Developmental strategies of a country act as a model to others for lessons and guidance for their own development.

China

China did not have any compulsion to introduce reforms as dictated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to India and Pakistan. But, some adverse situations in the economy prior to 1978, forced China to go for reforms.

Pre Reforms Period:

• There had been a massive extension of basic health services in rural areas.
• Through the commune system, there was a more equitable distribution of food grains.
• Despite extensive land reforms, collectivization, the Great Leap Forward and other initiatives, the per capita grain output in 1978 was the same as it was in the mid-1950s.
• In 1978, the then Government of China was not satisfied with the slow pace of the economy and lack of modernization under Maoist rule. They felt that the Maoist vision of economic development had failed. As a result, a number of reform measures were introduced in 1978.

Post Reforms Period:

• Each reform measure was first implemented at a smaller level and then extended on a massive scale.
• Development of infrastructural facilities in the areas of education and health, land reforms, long existence of decentralized planning and existence of small enterprises helped positively in improving the social and income indicators.
• Agricultural reforms (handing over plots of land to individuals for cultivation) brought prosperity to a vast number of poor people. It created conditions for the subsequent phenomenal growth in rural industries and built up a strong support base for more reforms.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, the reform process led to a worsening of all the economic indicators. As compare• to 1980s, the growth rate of GDP and its sectoral constituents decreased in the 1990s. The proportion of poor in 1960s was more than 40 percent which declined to 25 percent in 1980sand started rising again in 1990s.

The reasons for the slow-down of growth and re-emergence of poverty in Pakistan's economy are:

• Agricultural growth and food supply situation was based on good harvest and not the institutionalized process of technical change. When there was a good harvest, the economy was in good condition when it was not, the economic indicators showed stagnation.
• Foreign exchange is an essential component for any country and it is always to build foreign exchange reserves through exports of manufactured goods. However, in Pakistan, most of the foreign exchange earnings came from remittances from Pakistani workers in the middle east and the exports of highly volatile agricultural products.
• There was a growing dependence on foreign loans on the one hand and increasing difficulty in paying back the loans on the other.
• However, during the last few years, Pakistan has recovered its economic growth and has been sustaining.