“We’ll have significant improvements in 2-3 years in poverty reduction. The country will be free from poverty and hunger by 2030,” he said while addressing the launch of the World Bank’s new study report “Bangladesh Poverty Assessment” at a city hotel on Monday.
In the report, the multilateral donor agency said though the country’s economy remained robust, there are emerging contrasts as well.
“As the country is rapidly urbanizing, its rural and urban areas did not experience the same level of poverty reduction. The rural areas reduced poverty impressively, accounting 90 percent of the poverty reduction since 2010. But in urban areas, progress has been slower and extreme poverty has not decreased,” mentioned the report.
“In 2016, about 1 in 4 Bangladeshis were poor,”the report further said with an observation that the country’s economic growth in the last decade has not led to a faster poverty reduction. Specially, poverty has stagnated and even increased in the Western division while the Eastern division fared better.
The World Bank report launching ceremony, chaired by its Bangladesh Country Director Mercy Tembon, was also addressed by DrShamsulAlam, senior secretary, general economics, General Economics Division, and former caretaker government’s advisor economist DrHossainZillurRahman.
The finance minister appreciated the World Bank for conducting the study, but said the data and statistics used by in preparing the report is three years old.
“In last three years, we have made much progress which was not incorporated in the study,” he said.
Mustafa Kamal also ruled out the World Bank’s report apprehension that poverty may come back among the people who have already been left out of the poverty.
“We already declared some strategies and measures in the national budget like supporting them in employing in small and medium industries. So, there is no chance of return of poverty,” he told the function.
The finance minister also said the 4th industrial revolution was adopted as a strategy to create new job opportunities to address the unemployment issue.
He said the government’s one of the main thrust is to ensure quality education for quality growth.
“That’s why we are putting highest emphasis on need-based quality education,” he said adding that the government has been setting up 100 economic zones where 10 million people will be employed.
He said the country’s GDP will go up to 10 percent in next two years from present 8 percent because of huge investment in development of the infrastructures.
The Finance Minister suggested the World Bank to make a new presentation on poverty situation by incorporating current data and statistics of the economy.
Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman said that it will be not be possible to set a new strategy to fight against poverty until institutional reforms are made.