Minister: 6 million people living in extreme poverty
He added that extreme poverty is on the decline
Planning Minister MA Mannan has said, the number of people living in extreme poverty is now below 6 million in Bangladesh.
He made the remark at a post-budget discussion arranged by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka’s Gulshan area, reports UNB.
“In Bangladesh, people affected by hardcore poverty is not more than 5-6 million at the moment. The number of poor people are around 30 million. The count says 5% of the people are victims of extreme poverty,” he said, adding that extreme poverty rate is on the decline.
“Among all the problems we are facing, our main goal is to eradicate poverty. Whether it is lack of accountability or transparency, all of these have roots in poverty,” said the minister.
He remarked, the government has achieved much progress in reducing poverty.
MA Mannan mentioned that allowance for freedom fighters, and people with a disability will increase because they are highly prioritised by the government.
“The holistic development through implementing the budget will help everyone,” he added.
About the growing economic disparity among different classes of the society, the minister said, it is inevitable because Bangladesh is in the upward curve of development.
“There is no society without disparity, so we’ll adjust to it,” he added.
