ADB to lend $250 million for social protection
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a loan of $250 million to Bangladesh to help its finance reforms aimed at improving the inclusiveness and responsiveness of the country's social development and resilience programme.
The ADB has approved the policy-based loan today, says a press release.
The regional development bank also said that Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty over the past two decades for which the poverty incidence declined from 48.9 per cent in 2000 to 20.5 per cent in 2019.
However, while many people were lifted from extreme poverty, a considerable number continue to live at a subsistence level, it said.
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the socioeconomic situation of Bangladesh with the decline of the country's gross domestic product to an estimated 5.2 per cent in the fiscal year 2020 from 8.2 per cent in 2019.
Enhancing social protection support is critical to cushioning the effects of the pandemic," said Hiroko Uchimura-Shiroishi, ADB Senior Social Sector Specialist for South Asia.
"ADB supports the government's intention to leverage the Covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity to strengthen its social protection programs as an essential means of building the resilience of the poor and supporting an inclusive recovery."
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