The government has been working to find ways of cutting the income inequality, said the finance minister yesterday.
"We are gradually increasing the allocation for public expenditure every year and the way it is increasing now, I hope it will certainly have an impact on mitigating the income inequality," said AMA Muhith.
"However, we have to be realistic about increasing allocations in different sectors. For example, now that we have allocated 16 percent of our GDP for public expenditure, it may not be possible to increase allocations for all other sectors at the same time as well," he added.
Muhith was speaking at a seminar on 'Mitigating Socioeconomic Inequalities to Accelerate Poverty Reduction: Investing in Vulnerable Children' co-organised by Unicef and Bangladesh Economic Association at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
Unicef launched two documents yesterday -- Unicef Global Report Progress for Children: Achieving MDGs with Equality, and Mitigating Socioeconomic Inequalities to Accelerate Poverty Reduction: Investing in Vulnerable Children.
The minister referred to a lack of access to education, malnutrition and school dropout as major challenges to overcoming income inequalities.
"We are trying hard to address these issues seriously aiming at ensuring education and health for all that will produce skilled future leaders for the country."
Carel de Rooy, Unicef representative in Bangladesh, suggested the government invest more in improving the lot of the vulnerable children as an effective strategy to reduce socio-economic inequalities.
"An equity-focused strategy is not only right from the moral perspective, but also effective in achieving the MDGs," Rooy said.
By targeting the most vulnerable children today, we can break the inter-generational cycle of poverty and accelerate poverty reduction, which is at the core of the government's policy,” she said.
"According to our paper, such an approach in Bangladesh is affordable. It is not about spending much more money but spending what is available to greater effect."
Prof Abul Barkat, president of Bangladesh Economic Association, said socioeconomic inequality is the key barrier to development, particularly in reducing poverty.
"When it comes to children, the barrier increases manifold, prevents them from reaching their full potential, and perpetuate poverty from one generation to the next; this is why it is crucial for the government to invest in the most vulnerable children as part of the poverty reduction strategy," he said.
Unicef global reports show that while great progress is being made in international efforts to meet the millennium development goals, widening disparities have been accompanying this progress.
"In the next 10 years, it would be possible to provide access to basic education to almost 4 million vulnerable children in Bangladesh. The investment for such a programme would only require on average 2.4 percent of the social safety net budget and 0.37 percent of the national budget," said the report.
The government with support of Unicef is currently implementing projects to reach the most vulnerable children, children living on the streets, children engaged in child labour as well as the orphaned ones.
Dr Shirin Sharmin Chawdhury, state minister for women and children affairs, and Fahmida Khatun, additional director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, also spoke.