Nagad, the mobile financial service of the Bangladesh Post Office, has welcomed the government’s move to increase the
social safety net allocations in the national budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2023-2024.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has proposed a budgetary allocation of Taka 1,26,272 crore in the next fiscal year for the social security programmes, up by a little over 11 percent from the current fiscal year’s Taka 1,13,576 crore.
In this way, the size of social security allocation will be 16.58 percent of the total budget allocation and 2.52 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
The finance minister has also proposed increasing the number of beneficiaries by more than 8.5 lakh, which is a very timely move to give a breathing space to the poor who are grappling with rising costs of daily necessities, said a press release here today.
He also proposed that the monthly allowances be raised by Taka 50 to Taka 200 in different categories of the safety net programmes, read the budget documents.
Welcoming this move, Founder and Managing Director of Nagad Limited Tanvir A Mishuk said, “This timely move will give poor people some relief during this tough time. Digital disbursements of such funds are done promptly while ensuring transparency.”
From the beginning, Nagad had been the first choice for the government in disbursing government allowances, education stipends and other cash aid as it ensured transparency by plugging all anomalies, he added.
In 2021 and 2022, Nagad successfully disbursed 75 percent of all the social safety net allowances, such as old-age allowance, widow allowance, allowance for the underprivileged with special needs and students with special needs, Bede community development allowance and transgender community development allowance.
Besides, Nagad also disbursed 100 percent of primary education stipends, stipends under the Prime Minister’s educational assistance trust, tea garden workers’ living standard allowance, backward community development allowance, disabled allowance, and others.
During the Covid-19 period, Nagad also disbursed twice the majority portions of Prime Minister’s Eid gifts — Taka 2,500 each — among poor families. And all these have made Nagad the top choice for the government’s disbursements.
During his budget speech on June 1, the finance minister said, “We’ve systematically designed our social security programmes for the upcoming year, considering our government’s fundamental goals, objectives, and the current
socio-economic situation.”