Planning Experience in Tunisia, Burundi and Syria

Abstract

In a 1975 CRED Discussion Paper (#46), the present author analyzed the financing of investments in Tunisia during the period 1961-1971. Since then, the author has gained further planning experience in Burundi and Syria. This paper will describe the planning tools developed in these three countries and will discuss their general applicability. In Tunisia, a system of interlocking capital accounts was developed in order to analyse past investments. In Burundi, this system of interlocking capital accounts was computerized and used for macroeconomic forecasts. Over the years, other elements were added to the macroeconomic framework, in order to provide detailed forecasts in various fields: production, requirements of skilled personnel, etc. Moreover, a computerized list of projects and an educational model were established. Finally, in Syria, the production element was further developed into an industrial development model. This model was based on balance equations of individual commodities and on input-output relations between them. Such a computerized commodity model corresponds very closely to Syrian planning methods, applied manually.