Publication: Bangladesh Poverty Assessment: Facing Old and New Frontiers in Poverty Reduction
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2019-10-31
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2019-12-03
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Bangladesh has an inspiring story of reducing poverty and advancing development. Since 2000, the country has reduced poverty by half. In the last decade and a half, it lifted more than 25 million out of poverty. The country’s economy remained robust and resilient even in the face of many challenges. All sectors of the economy have contributed to poverty reduction. This has been accompanied by enhanced human capital, lower fertility rates and increased life expectancy, which have also significantly contributed to increase households’ ability to earn more and exit poverty. Yet, behind this progress, there are emerging contrasts. 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 for 90 percent of the poverty reduction since 2010. But, in urban areas, progress has been slower and extreme poverty has not decreased. The country’s higher economic growth in the last decade has not led to a faster poverty reduction. Specially, poverty has stagnated and even increased in the Western divisions while the Eastern divisions fared better. This report highlights the need for both traditional and fresh solutions. To end extreme poverty by the next decade, Bangladesh will need to continue to build on its successes, such as family planning, educational attainments, and growth in agriculture and manufacturing. But at the same time, it will need solutions to overcome new and re-emerging frontiers of poverty reduction.
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“World Bank. 2019. Bangladesh Poverty Assessment: Facing Old and New Frontiers in Poverty Reduction. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32754 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Bangladesh - Poverty Assessment for Bangladesh : Creating Opportunities and Bridging the East-West Divide(2008-10-21)Bangladesh represents a success story among developing countries. Poverty incidence, which was as high as 57 percent at the beginning of the 1990s, had declined to 49 percent in 2000. This trend accelerated subsequently, reducing the poverty headcount rate to 40 percent in 2005. The primary contributing factor was robust and stable economic growth along with no worsening of inequality. Respectable GDP growth that started at the beginning of the 1990s continued into the new millennium and averaged above 5 percent annually between 2000 and 2005. Inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient of consumption, remained stable between 2000 and 2005. Recent shocks to the Bangladeshi economy in the form of natural disasters and rising food prices have partially dampened the rapid progress in reducing poverty. 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Specific areas for policy focus which are elaborated in the report include measures to: (i) promote growth by sustaining increases in labor productivity and job creation in manufacturing and services; (ii) expand opportunities in lagging regions by improving connectivity with growth poles and investing in human capital; (iii) facilitate migration from poor areas given the poverty-reducing impact of remittances; (iv) stimulate women's participation in the labor force (v) sustain Bangladesh's past successes in reducing fertility; (vi) improve poor households access to and quality of education, health, and nutrition services; and (vii) strengthen the coordination, targeting, and coverage of safety net programs.Publication Bangladesh - Poverty Assessment for Bangladesh : Creating Opportunities and Bridging the East-West Divide(Washington, DC, 2008-10)Bangladesh represents a success story among developing countries. Poverty incidence, which was as high as 57 percent at the beginning of the 1990s, had declined to 49 percent in 2000. This trend accelerated subsequently, reducing the poverty headcount rate to 40 percent in 2005. The primary contributing factor was robust and stable economic growth along with no worsening of inequality. Respectable GDP growth that started at the beginning of the 1990s continued into the new millennium and averaged above 5 percent annually between 2000 and 2005. Inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient of consumption, remained stable between 2000 and 2005. Recent shocks to the Bangladeshi economy in the form of natural disasters and rising food prices have partially dampened the rapid progress in reducing poverty. The year 2007 saw two natural disasters, floods and a devastating cyclone within a few months of each other. Another significant shock has been the steep rise in food prices, including the main staple, rice, which has revealed the risk posed by global price volatility for a net food-importing country like Bangladesh. Estimates in this report suggest that the impact of the food price shock has likely negated some of the reduction in poverty brought about by economic growth between 2005 and 2008. Specific areas for policy focus which are elaborated in the report include measures to: (i) promote growth by sustaining increases in labor productivity and job creation in manufacturing and services; (ii) expand opportunities in lagging regions by improving connectivity with growth poles and investing in human capital; (iii) facilitate migration from poor areas given the poverty-reducing impact of remittances; (iv) stimulate women's participation in the labor force (v) sustain Bangladesh's past successes in reducing fertility; (vi) improve poor households access to and quality of education, health, and nutrition services; and (vii) strengthen the coordination, targeting, and coverage of safety net programs.Publication Poverty Assessment for Bangladesh(World Bank, Dhaka, 2008-10)Bangladesh has made good progress in reducing poverty over the past decade despite the series of external shocks which have routinely affected the country. 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