Higher inflation coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic pushed nearly 68 million people in Asia into extreme poverty as of last year, according to a report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). An estimated 155.2 million people in developing Asia, which is 3.9 per cent of the region's population, lived in extreme poverty as of last year. This figure was 67.8 million higher than what it would have been without the pandemic and cost-of-living crises, the report said Thursday.
It is encouraging to note that the poverty rate in Bangladesh, despite the global crisis, declined by 5.6 percent in seven years from 2016 to 2022 due to various programmes taken by the government, says the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). According to BBS, the poor population in the country was 24.3 percent in 2016, which declined to 18.7 percent in 2022.
In order to make our economic
growth more inclusive, the
government must take
initiatives for enhancing
poor people's participation
in economic activities
Bangladesh's efforts to eradicate poverty are now very well recognised and admired throughout the world. In view of enviable success in various socio-economic indicators in the last decade under the pragmatic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has now become a middle-income country. The remarkable development that the country has gained over the last ten years has instilled the confidence into people that becoming a developed nation is very much possible. The incumbent government has successfully reduced the country’s poverty rate by 50 percent in the last ten years. However, the country has set an ambitious target to alleviate extreme poverty to 2.3 percent by 2031 and moderate poverty to below 3 percent by 2041. In order to chase this target within the stipulated time, necessary initiatives should be taken to address some key issues such as climate change, natural disasters and weak rural infrastructure which have long been deterring our efforts towards eradicating poverty.
The global health crisis caused by Covid-19 hit Bangladesh's economy hard and jeopardised the country's impressive achievements in poverty reduction. There is no denying that the government is providing allowance for the poor and needy. But apart from giving allowance, it has become more of a necessity to involve the poor in income-generating works.Though we have achieved enviable success in poverty alleviation, the rate of poverty reduction is not adequate compared to the country’s striking growth rate. Also, the rich-poor divide has been growing remarkably in Bangladesh.
Hence, the government should give more priority to inclusive and micro-level development than economic growth. In order to make our economic growth more inclusive, the government must take initiatives for enhancing poor people's participation in economic activities.
