On May 27 2020, Youth Policy Forum (YPF) held a third budget dialogue webinar that focused on the Social Protection (SP) system of Bangladesh. Panelists for the budget dialogue included Dr Aslam Alam, former secretary of Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR); Dr Imran Matin, executive director of BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD); Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, former fellow at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Mostafa Amir Sabbih, senior researcher of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), with the session being moderated by Shawkat Ali, research analyst at World Bank.
Dr Imran Matin mentioned that the number of people living under the poverty line has doubled due to the immediate loss of livelihoods due to the nationwide shutdown. He claimed that for an emerging economy, the poverty line shouldn’t be the focus. The focus should be on the poverty dynamics, those who are above the poverty line but vulnerable. These are people who belong to the informal economy with no social protection, making them extremely vulnerable to shocks. This vulnerability is particularly intense for the urban informal segment which needs inclusion and attention. The informal economy should be brought under SP to ensure economic growth and the system should be digitised to control leakage, Dr Matin suggested.
A major concern raised by all the panelists was that if government pension is excluded from SP expenditure, it is stagnated at 1.7-1.8% and decreases as a percentage of the budget. Cash transfer programs must be increased in response to the pandemic. All the panelists also agreed that SP should be re-imagined in the urban and informally employed population, and local government must be empowered.
On May 27 2020, Youth Policy Forum (YPF) held a third budget dialogue webinar that focused on the Social Protection (SP) system of Bangladesh. Panelists for the budget dialogue included Dr Aslam Alam, former secretary of Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR); Dr Imran Matin, executive director of BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD); Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, former fellow at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Mostafa Amir Sabbih, senior researcher of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), with the session being moderated by Shawkat Ali, research analyst at World Bank.
Dr Imran Matin mentioned that the number of people living under the poverty line has doubled due to the immediate loss of livelihoods due to the nationwide shutdown. He claimed that for an emerging economy, the poverty line shouldn’t be the focus. The focus should be on the poverty dynamics, those who are above the poverty line but vulnerable. These are people who belong to the informal economy with no social protection, making them extremely vulnerable to shocks. This vulnerability is particularly intense for the urban informal segment which needs inclusion and attention. The informal economy should be brought under SP to ensure economic growth and the system should be digitised to control leakage, Dr Matin suggested.
A major concern raised by all the panelists was that if government pension is excluded from SP expenditure, it is stagnated at 1.7-1.8% and decreases as a percentage of the budget. Cash transfer programs must be increased in response to the pandemic. All the panelists also agreed that SP should be re-imagined in the urban and informally employed population, and local government must be empowered.
