THIS is with reference to the editorial `Job policy for youth` (Aug 14). After the failure of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to lure foreign direct investment (FDI), and the failure of programmes to bolster the economy even after signing memorandums of understanding (MoUs) right, left and centre, the government has now come up with a new scheme to assuage the growing frustration in the country. The government announced the National Youth Employment Policy apparently without doing the required homework or serious thinking. It is like puttingthe cartbefore the horse because employment is the consequence of economic development, not the other way round.

Agriculture and manufacturing are the engines of economic growth that lead to job and wealth creation. Pakistan`s agriculture remains primitive and dependent on the vagaries of nature, while manufacturing has not made any concrete progress.

Multinational companies have been leaving the country, while domestic entrepreneurs are reluctant to invest as they find the business environment inhospitable.

It is no wonder that economic development has remained stalled in Pakistan for a long time, and the country has been operating without even a modicum of planning. The concept of drawing up five-year plans has long been discarded in favour of ad hocism. No new critical projects have been launched that could take the country forward.

The national economy has become heavily dependent on external and domestic borrowing to remain afloat. The development budget each year is subjected to cuts, while non-development expenditure rises despite all the rhetoric about austerity.

Arif`Majeed Karachi