Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty, supported by sustained economic growth. Based on the international poverty line of $1.90 per person per day, poverty declined from 44.2% in 1991 to 13.8% as of 2016/2017. In parallel, life expectancy, literacy rates and per capita food production have increased significantly. Progress was underpinned by 6% plus growth over the decade and reaching to 7.3% in 2016/2017, according to official estimates (The World Bank).
To achieve its growth aspiration of becoming an upper-middle income country by its 50th anniversary in 2021, the country needs to urgently implement structural reforms, expand investments in human capital, increase female labor force participation, and raise productivity through increased global value chain integration. Adding to that, improving infrastructure as well as the business climate would also allow new productive sectors to develop and generate jobs (The World Bank).
The world bank has been a longstanding partner of Bangladesh ever since its independence. Through its concessional lending arm, it has committed more than $28 Billion in grants, interest-free and concessional financing credits to Bangladesh. In recent years, Bangladesh has been among the largest recipient countries of the IDA (International Development Association) fund and currently has the largest IDA program totaling $11.3 Billion (The World Bank).
Rapid growth enabled Bangladesh to reach the lower middle-income country status in 2015. In 2018, Bangladesh met the eligibility criteria for graduation from the UNs Least Developed Countries (LDC) list and is on track to graduate in 2024. And due to the IDA financing Bangladesh, the country was able to achieve the following, Propper Education, Good Health Care, Good Rural Infrastructure, Usable energy for everyone, and Better Agriculture (The World Bank).
(www.worldbank.org/en/results/2018/11/15/bangladesh-reducing-poverty-and-sharing-prosperity)