Referring to the World Bank report, Information Minister Dr Hassan Mahmood said, "The World Bank's report proves that some so-called research and social organizations in the country have published fabricated, purposeful reports on poverty during the pandemic with the aim of misleading the people." I hope these propaganda will stop now.”
He was speaking to reporters at his official residence on Minto Road in the capital on Saturday afternoon over the World Bank's recently released 'Bangladesh Development Update - Recovery and Resilience amid Global Uncertainty' report on Bangladesh's progress in the midst of global uncertainty. The minister said, "Poverty in Bangladesh has decreased by 0.6 per cent in 2021 as compared to 2020 and now it stands at 11.9 per cent where it was 12.5 per cent earlier. In other words, we have been saying for so long that even under the Corona epidemic, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, poverty has been reduced in Bangladesh.”
"The World Bank report says that poverty in Bangladesh is decreasing, but we have seen that some newspapers have said that poverty is increasing in the country. They will be vigilant and stop misleading propaganda about poverty,” he said.
Citing practical examples, Dr Hassan said, “Bangladesh ranks third among the only 20 countries in the world that have a positive GDP growth rate in 2020-21 due to the epidemic. Bangladesh's previous two countries - South Sudan and Guinea - have much smaller economies and populations. Therefore, in 2020-21, Bangladesh can be called the number one GDP growth in the world and the report of the World Bank also says that the country will grow 6.4 percent in the current fiscal year and 7.9 percent next year. However, we hope that we will be able to achieve more goals soon.”
Replying to a question on the recent statement of the BNP, the Information Minister said, "The statements that Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is giving are routine. Their politics revolve around conventional rhetoric. Their politics revolve around three issues - Khaleda Zia's health, Tarique Zia's punishment and the caretaker government. BNP has failed to play the responsible role as an opposition party.