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THERE are many reasons why all energies need to be concentrated on poverty reduction in the country. The good news in the realm of poverty reduction is that the country's population has almost doubled since the time of independence. It had a population of some 75 million at the time of independence and more than two-thirds of that population had an existence below the poverty line. The population currently is 140 million on a rough estimate and out of this vastly increased population 72.8 per cent is considered to have a standard of living above the poverty level, leaving some 67.2 million below the poverty line. Thus, it appears that there has been notable success in poverty reduction since the pre-independence era when the population was smaller but the preponderant majority in that population lived in absolute poverty. The situation has changed appreciably with the greater number in the population seemingly judged to be out of the throes of poverty. But, as stated, the number of 67.2 million living on less than a dollar a day -- the UN benchmark for determining poverty -- is still a vast one and points to the formidable goal faced by Bangladesh in achieving substantial progress and decisive victory in the struggle against poverty.
Poverty reduction is umbilically linked to economic expansion or economic growth. Bangladesh is often pointed at as a lucrative market as it has so many people living in it. The present market size of over 72 million people with reasonable purchasing power is not a small one. The demand for various types of goods and services generated by the number of people not suffering from poverty in the country is huge and provides ample opportunities for businesses, local and foreign. But the demand situation could be far higher if some 30 or 40 million more people could be helped to climb out of poverty at an early date. The point is that people not in poverty have considerable purchasing power which then translates into demand for goods and services and businesses can attempt to satisfy that demand with more production, distribution and consumption. In sum, the entire cycle of economic activities spins faster when more people create demand. The resulting increases in production activities, job and income creation all add up to boost the GDP size of the country to increase cumulatively its individual and national wealth. Thus, poverty reduction makes preeminent sense from the perspectives of economic growth, business expansion and rise in the overall standard of living of people and these are expressly the reasons for the high desirability of poverty reduction at a faster pace.
The National Economic Council (ECNEC) that approves economic policies at the highest level, is about to adopt the government-prepared poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), according to a report published in this paper Wednesday. The PRSP adoption has been prompted, on the one hand, by the urging of the country's development partners or the donor community and their linking of release of funds with such adoption, on the other. After it is approved by the ECNEC, the PRSP will be sought to be implemented over a three-year time period.
Donors have been insisting on not only the carrying out of the PRSP objectives but also taking of various moves by the government to support the same. They have stressed specially measures to be taken to improve governance, reduce corruption and reform the government administration. Clearly, there is a compelling need to score positive results in these areas to hope for a positive outcome in the PRSP implementation. The government will have to do more than just take some hurried steps of approving the PRSP to clear the ground for receipt of funds from donors. It needs to sincerely address the governance issues as prerequisites for the successful implementation of the PRSP goals.
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