Family card to reduce poverty by 5 percent

The annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a major global economic gathering, concluded in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, on Sunday. Finance ministers from 191 countries attended the meetings. Bangladesh’s inflation and Family Card program received significant attention. Concerns were raised that rising inflation could push more people into poverty. However, Bangladesh said that proper implementation of the Family Card program, introduced through a digital infrastructure system, could lift around 5 percent of the population out of poverty. Both development partner institutions expressed a degree of satisfaction with the initiative.

At the World Bank and IMF meetings held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, it was noted that rising inflation in Bangladesh could further increase the number of people living in poverty. Particular attention was given to the risk of ordinary people falling below the poverty line due to persistent inflation and the crisis in the Middle East. According to World Bank estimates, prolonged inflation in the past has pushed around 8 million people in Bangladesh below the poverty line. International organizations said the government’s key programs, including the Family Card and Farmer Card, could play an effective role in addressing the situation. Bangladesh told the meeting that the Family Card would play a significant role in poverty reduction. In particular, if assistance reaches the actual beneficiaries, the program will not only ease the pressure of ongoing inflation but also protect 8 million people from newly falling below the poverty line.

Speaking on the issue at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Dr. Rashed Al Titumir, the prime minister’s adviser on finance and planning, said one of the major weaknesses of previous social safety net programs was errors in beneficiary selection. Many people who were supposed to receive assistance were not included on the lists. Meanwhile, others who were not eligible had been included. To address this problem, the government is emphasizing the use of digital public infrastructure to ensure that assistance reaches the actual beneficiaries.

It is understood that major problems in the social protection sector in the past included the inclusion of fake names and the exclusion of people who were genuinely poor. However, development partners have been assured that the use of digital public infrastructure, such as smart cards and biometric systems, will ensure that assistance reaches the actual beneficiaries.

The meeting also noted that if the Family Card program ensures access to essential food items such as rice, lentils, oil and sugar at fair prices or provides direct cash assistance, extremely poor families could save a substantial amount of money on essential expenses.

Families receiving Family Card benefits will spend less on food and daily necessities. This will allow low income households to invest their savings in other essential areas, such as children’s education, healthcare or small cottage industries and businesses.

Furthermore, ensuring adequate nutrition and healthcare for family members will reduce school dropout rates among children and support human capital development. In the long run, this could help families break out of the cycle of poverty.

Low income and lower middle income groups are the hardest hit by prolonged inflation and international crises. The Family Card will serve as a social safety net program. It will protect hundreds of thousands of people from newly falling below the poverty line due to inflationary pressures. Bangladesh also said that the Family Card is not a temporary relief or aid distribution scheme. Instead, it is linked to the country’s five year economic strategy.

According to the World Bank, more than half of the extremely poor people in Bangladesh still remain outside the coverage of government assistance or allowance programs. However, if government support can be delivered properly to those who need it, poverty can be reduced significantly even with limited resources. In addition, existing separate programs providing food assistance and cash transfers could be consolidated. If Family Cards are properly distributed to the right people, a large number of people could be lifted out of poverty.

It is understood that the government has begun full scale implementation of the Family Card program for the first time in the country by collecting socioeconomic information from all households. On March 10, 2026, the prime minister inaugurated the pilot phase, during which information was collected from 112,094 households across 57 units. A total of 71,831 eligible women received allowances directly. Subsequently, on October 12, the main nationwide door to door data collection process began with 66,815 data collectors. The plan is to include information on approximately 44.5 million households in a central database by December.

For the current 2026 to 2027 fiscal year, the government aims to bring an additional 4 million female heads of households under the allowance program. A total of Tk 14,500 crore has been allocated for this purpose, including Tk 12,300 crore for allowances. Over the next three fiscal years, all remaining eligible households will gradually be brought under the program.