Govt to accept data on new poor only from Bureau of Statistics, says finance minister
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today said the government would accept the data on the number of new poor only from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), not from any private company.
The minister made the remark just a day after a study of the Power and Participation Research Centre and the Brac Institute of Governance and Development revealed that 2.45 crore people were pushed into poverty because of the pandemic in a year.
The consequence of the pandemic had an adverse impact on the poor in urban areas as their per capita daily income declined to Tk 107 from Tk 124, the study said.
About the findings of the study the minister said: "The BBS will look at the information that has been published in the study. We will receive the information from the BBS."
The minister spoke during a virtual media briefing after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement.
The government has not re-calculated any poverty rate, Kamal said.
However, the government is working to lift the poor out of poverty and the main target of the next budget will be the poor people of the country, he added.
Comments