The number of population below the poverty line has dropped to 31.5 percent from 40 percent in 2005, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday.
''It's a remarkable progress in poverty eradication. Some 15 million people have come out of poverty in last 10 years,'' said Rahman, citing the preliminary findings of the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES).
The central bank chief shared the data at a seminar at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka on the need for taking a bottom-up approach and inclusiveness in budget making.
Bangladesh Economic Association and Dhaka School of Economics co-organised the programme as part of Bangladesh Social and Economic Forum 2011.
The data on reduced level of poverty comes at a time when the government is set to frame the budget for the next fiscal year following the draft of the sixth five-year plan (SFYP) for 2011-15. The SFYP aims to cut poverty by accelerating the growth of the economy, expanding by 6 percent a year now.
The latest estimate shows that the poverty level went down by 17.4 percentage points last decade. Between 2000 and 2005, the percentage of people below the poverty line dropped to 40 percent from 48.9 percent in 2000.
Analysts gave the credit to the increased inflow of remittances in the past several years amid a rise in the outflow of workers for jobs abroad.
Now nearly 70 lakh Bangladeshi migrants work abroad and send remittances to their families living mostly in semi urban and rural areas.
Prof Shamsul Alam, a member of the Planning Commission, linked the fall in the rate of poverty to a rise in crop intensity and a diversification in agricultural production.
An increase in prices of farm produces and rural wages, connectivity with towns due to expansion of road networks in rural areas, microcredit and a rise in non-farm economic activities have also contributed to the decline in poverty, analysts added.
Sajjad Zohir, director of Economic Research Group, said the reduction is consistent with other trends in the economy and the way poverty is measured.
The BB chief cited the Gini-coefficient, a measure of inequality, and claimed the coefficient was stable in the past three to four years, meaning that inequality has not increased.
The Gini-coefficient ratio dropped to 0.46 in the latest HIES from 0.47 in 2005, said Planning Commission member Alam.
''It indicates that an equitable economy has been developed,'' said Rahman, a campaigner of inclusive growth. He said the economy of Bangladesh had turned around.
''The rural economy is shining. If you look at the smiling faces of people in the rural areas and the sandals they wear, you will recognise it,'' he said.
Source: The Daily Star
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