Nearly 1 million Bangladeshis may slip into poverty: World Bank

Nearly 1 million Bangladeshi people are projected to join the ranks of the moderately poor, who earn less than $3.65 a day in purchasing power parity (PPP), said the World Bank in its Poverty Macro Update on Bangladesh.

Released as part of the South Asia Development Update on Tuesday, the report said half a million people in Bangladesh are expected to slip into extreme poverty between the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) and fiscal year 2024 (FY24) due to the erosion of purchasing power, as inflation will reach 9.6 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bangladesh’s extreme poverty rate is forecast to rise to 5.1 per cent in FY24 from 4.9 per cent in the previous year.

The World Bank defines extreme poverty based on an international poverty income of less than 2.15 dollars a day.

“Elevated inflation will put pressure on consumption, while forex rationing will constrain private investment,” the report states.

It also predicts that inequality will remain stagnant.

The Washington-based lender said that economic conditions deteriorated in FY23 as inflation accelerated and the balance of payments deficit widened, driven by a financial account deficit.