51% of Dhaka's total poor are new: BIDS survey

Fifty-one per cent of Dhaka's total poor in 2022 were new as the dragging fallout of the coronavirus pandemic took its toll on the country, according to a survey of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

The BIDS, a policy and research-oriented think-tank, revealed the information at the BIDS Research Almanac 2023 at the Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka today.

"Evidence shows that the importance of the new poor as a new social category is emerging as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic," said Binayak Sen, director-general of the BIDS.

Most of the new poor have slipped below the poverty line, so the vulnerability of people should be kept in mind in order to ensure that development is sustainable, Sen said.

He said an analysis of poverty dynamics shows that urban chronic poverty is still at a considerable level even in a growing megacity like Dhaka.

"About one-tenth of the urban population belonged to this category."