Nagad has welcomed the government’s move to increase the social safety net allocation in the national budget for the fiscal year 2023-2024.

“This timely move will give poor people some relief during this tough time. Digital disbursements of such funds are done promptly while ensuring transparency,” said Tanvir A Mishuk, founder and managing director of Nagad Limited, according to a press release.

“From the beginning Nagad had been the first choice for the government in disbursing government allowances, education stipends and other cash aid as we ensured transparency by plugging all anomalies, " he added.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has proposed a budgetary allocation of BDT 1,26,272 crore in the next fiscal year for the social security programmes, up by a little over 11 percent from the current fiscal year’s BDT 113,576 crore.

In this way, the size of social security allocation will be 16.58 percent of total budget allocation and 2.52 percent of GDP.

The finance minister has also proposed increasing beneficiaries by more than 8.5 lakh, which is a very timely move to give breathing space to the poor who are grappling with rising costs of daily necessities.

He has also proposed that monthly allowances be raised by BDT 50 to BDT 200 in different categories of safety net allowances, read the budget documents.

In 2021 and 2022, Nagad successfully disbursed 75 percent of all the social safety net allowances, such as old-age allowance, widow allowance, allowance for the underprivileged with special needs and students with special needs, Bede community development allowance and transgender community development allowance, the release added.

Besides, Nagad also disburses 100 percent of primary education stipends, stipends under the Prime Minister’s educational assistance trust, tea garden workers’ living standard allowance, backward community development allowance, disabled allowance, and others, it also said.