"In Bangladesh, people affected by hardcore poverty is not more than 50-60 lakh at this moment. The number of poor people are around 3 crore. The court says five percent people are victim of extreme poverty," he said adding that extreme poverty rate is on decline.
He made the remarks at a post-budget discussion arranged by Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at Lakeshore Hotel in city’s Gulshan area.
"Among all the problems we are facing...our main goal is to eradicate poverty. Whether it's lack of accountability or transparency, all of these have roots in poverty," said the minister.
He claimed the government has achieved much progress in reducing poverty.
MA Mannan mentioned that allowance for freedom fighters and people with 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 the country is in the upper curve of development. "We will remove disparities by energising, activating millions of economic units all over Bangladesh."
He assured that it will be removed eventually adding, "There is no society without disparity so we'll adjust to it."
MA Mannan further said that the growth in Gross Domestic Production (GDP) is benefitting everyone saying, "When the sun shines, everyone gets its ray."