ADB gives $250m to boost social protection

The government yesterday signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a $250 million policy-based loan to further improve the social protection system in Bangladesh for supporting the vulnerable population against socioeconomic challenges.

The programme aims to accelerate reforms in increasing the coverage and efficiency of social protection measures, improve the financial inclusion of disadvantaged people, and strengthen the response to diversified protection needs.

The loan is the second subprogramme of the Strengthening of Social Resilience Programme (SSRP) approved in 2021, which helped implement institutional and policy reforms that strengthened the inclusiveness and responsiveness of social protection in Bangladesh.

Fatima Yasmin, secretary of the Economic Relations Division, and Edimon Ginting, country director of the ADB, signed the agreement through a virtual programme.

"The ADB remains committed to helping Bangladesh accelerate its socioeconomic recovery and assist the government to promote an integrated social protection programme," Ginting said.

"The integrated social protection programme will improve social safety net management, deepen financial inclusion, address needs based on demographic, geographical, age, gender, and other diversities and widen the coverage and efficiency of social protection," he added.

The reforms supported under the programme will help improve efficiency by digitalisation and integration of systems as well as harmonisation of the government's social protection programmes, the ADB said in a statement.

Greater financial inclusion of the disadvantaged will be broadened by improving the usability of mobile financial services through the quick response (QR) code payment services, particularly in rural areas.

The programme also supports a contributory protection scheme by focusing on an employment injury scheme.

The reforms will help Bangladesh bring at least 80 per cent of social protection programmes with cash-based benefits under a standardised and integrated management system with connection to the G2P platform by June 2023.

At least 60 per cent of the cash-based social protection benefits will be delivered to disadvantaged women, and social protection programme fragmentation will be reduced in three ministries.

In addition, at least 50 mobile clinics will start operating in 10 city corporations while at least one social insurance scheme (contribution-based protection scheme) will be initiated on a pilot basis by 2023.