SOCIAL PROTECTION NEEDS SMARTER REFORMS, NOT JUST BIGGER BUDGETS

Bangladesh now spends more than Tk 1.20 trillion annually on social protection, yet despite this impressive expansion a new opinion piece in the Financial Express by IFPRI's Akhter U Ahmed and Md Sadat Anowar asks whether the country is getting the maximum return on this investment. The authors highlight opportunities to further strengthen coordination across the roughly 90 programs and 25 ministries, ensure benefit levels remain responsive to changing costs, and improve targeting so that support can reach those who need it most. While welcoming the government's new Family Card Programme as a potentially landmark reform, they argue for a hybrid targeting approach that combines Proxy Means Testing with community validation, alongside stronger benefit adequacy, greater attention to urban poverty, and integration with health protection and livelihood support. Their central message: as Bangladesh aims for upper-middle-income status, spending smarter and not just spending more, should guide the next generation of social protection reforms.

Read the full article here.