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Economists urge government to present pro-poor budget

Published : Tuesday, 11 May, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 507

Amid the rising number of new poor in Bangladesh due to the COVID-19 pandemic, economists suggest the government should go for a pro-poor national budget that safeguards both their lives and livelihoods.
In line with that suggestion, they are urging the government to prioritize the social safety net, employment, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as the health, education and agriculture sectors in the upcoming budget.
They said the poor [particularly day labourers, hawkers, beggars, rootless people, security guards, maids, transport and restaurant workers and people affected by natural disasters] across Bangladesh have been facing emerging vulnerabilities escalating debt and declining savings one year into the pandemic.
According to the report of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), the Covid-19 pandemic has caused 24.5 million new people to fall below the line of poverty between June 2020 and March 2021, and the debt burden has doubled for people living in both urban and rural areas. The majority of the new poor are to be found in the urban areas.
"There was a 4% rise in extreme poverty within the study sample. Despite some recovery, national estimate of 'new poor' in March 2021 stood at 14.7% which translates into a population of 24.5 million," the survey titled One Year into the COVID-19 Crisis by PPRC and BIGD showed.
The data also showed that households are faced with a 2nd wave crisis with significantly depleted coping capacity - savings depleted by 24% and 11% in rural and urban respectively. Meanwhile the debt burden doubled during the period for most groups. It is worth remembering that income drop for the poor and vulnerable was above 70% immediately after the 1st wave in March- April, 2020 according to the report.
"One year from the crisis, 50% of the 'new poor' remain stuck in poverty. However, 8% of pre-COVID employed were still unemployed in March 2021.      -UNB













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