Good news on Bangladesh poverty, maybe


Long-awaited results of the 2010 household income and expenditure survey are beginning to leak out in the Bangladesh media. The rumoured headline figure for poverty is 31.5%, down from 40% in 2005 and very close to the MDG target of 29%.

Considering the economic traumas over those five years, this result would be very encouraging. But we need to see something concrete from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics – and must not forget that the definition of the country’s national poverty line falls well below recognised standards.

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this post was first published by OneWorld UK