The World Bank’s latest findings expose a serious weakness in how subsidies and social safety-net programs are designed and delivered, with large amounts of public money failing to reach the poorest households.
This is not simply a question of inefficiency; it is a question of fairness. A system that allows wealthier households to capture a substantial share of electricity, fuel, and other subsidies while vulnerable families remain excluded is fundamentally failing in its purpose.
With poverty rising and household purchasing power under pressure, we can no longer afford to spend scarce public resources without ensuring that they produce the greatest possible benefit for those who need them.
The government must therefore undertake a serious overhaul of the system. Fragmented programs, overlapping beneficiary lists, and weak targeting must be replaced with a unified, transparent mechanism for identifying vulnerable households.
Subsidies must also become more targeted: Instead of providing broad benefits that disproportionately favour those who consume more, public funds should be directed towards households that genuinely require assistance. Cash transfers and food support should be expanded where evidence shows they can deliver greater impact, while leakages and politically influenced beneficiary selection must be eliminated.
Most importantly, reform must be measurable. The government should publish clear targets for coverage, exclusion, and leakage, and regularly report whether the poorest households are actually receiving support.
Economic hardship should not become a permanent disadvantage for the most vulnerable. Bangladesh's social protection system must stop rewarding those who are already better off and start delivering meaningful protection to those at greatest risk of being left behind.
Bangladesh cannot claim to have an effective social protection system when those who need support the most are routinely being left out.