Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today proposed increasing the social safety net programme allocation by 11 per cent year-on-year for fiscal year 2023-24.

He recommended allocating Tk 126,272 crore whereas it was Tk 113,576 crore in the current fiscal year.

The proposed allocation is 16.58 per cent of the total budget and 2.52 per cent of the gross domestic product.

Kamal proposed increasing the monthly allowance for the elderly by Tk 100 to Tk 600 and for widowed, deserted and destitute women by Tk 50 to Tk 550.

The number of beneficiaries in both categories have been increased by 1 lakh, taking the total to 58.01 lakh and 25.75 lakh respectively.

Though, the monthly allowance for physically challenged people has been kept the same at Tk 850, the number of beneficiaries has been proposed to be increased by 5.35 lakh to 29 lakh.