WB report proves poverty rise info fictitious: minister

Referring to a World Bank (WB) report stating that Bangladesh has further reduced poverty, Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud yesterday said the report has proven that some so-called research and social organisations have published fictitious and motivated reports of increasing poverty in the country during the pandemic to create confusion.

“The report has proven that some of the country’s so-called research and social organisations have published fictitious and motivated reports… I hope that the propaganda will stop now.”

He said this while exchanging views with journalists on the WB report “Bangladesh Development Update – Recovery and Resilience amid Global Uncertainty” at his official residence on Minto Road. The report states that poverty in Bangladesh has reduced by 0.6 percent from 2020 to 2021, and the poverty rate now stands at 11.9 percent, which was 12.5 percent, he said.

“So, I hope that the newspapers, which published fictitious and motivated reports… will be more cautious.”