The government is unlikely to separate the allocations for pension from the social safety net programme in the new national budget which, according to economists, is done intentionally to show the overall programme fat.聽聽聽
Finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, who will announce the FY25 national budget in parliament on June 6, is likely to retain the inclusion of pension of public officials and employees in the social safety net programme, said the finance ministry officials.
Economists have been urging the government to exclude the pension from the SSNP so that the actual budgetary allocations for the old, destitute, poor and needy become distinct.
But the government is not paying any heed to repeated calls, said executive director Ahsan H Mansur of Policy Research Institute.
The International Monetary Fund in its current $4.7 billion loan progarmme has also asked the government to increase allocations for the subsidy proramme against the backdrop of a decade-high inflation pressing fixed and low income groups hard.
The Washington-based multilateral agency also wanted exclusion of the allocations for pension.
However, the ministry of finance is reluctant about its exclusion even during the period of the IMF loan programme which will expire in May 2026, said ministry officials.
Ahsan H Mansur noted that the government was not separating the allocations for pension to show the overall safety programme plump.
In the outgoing FY24, some Tk 1.26 lakh crore has been allocated to run the safety net programme for the benefit of around 1.15 crore people, around half of which are old-age people.
Besides, the FY24 social safety net programme also includes an allocation of Tk 32,869 crore which is dedicated for paying pension to round eight lakh retired government employees.
In FY23, out of Tk 1.1 lakh crore in allocation for the SSNP, some Tk 28,370 crore went to pension payment to retired public sector employees.
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Farashuddin Ahmed said that the government was urged not only to exclude the pension allocations, but also to rectify the list of SSNP beneficiaries.聽聽聽聽聽
The list is marred by duplication, he said.
Around 30 per cent beneficiaries receiving the allowances under the 鈥榦ld age鈥� category, and 33 per cent beneficiaries receiving the allowances under the 鈥榳idow鈥� category were found ineligible, according to the think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue.
In a report in the past month, the CPD said that the ineligible beneficiaries ate away nearly Tk 1,500 crore of the SSNP allocations every year, caused by poor targeting and regulatory weaknesses.
Over half of the beneficiaries do not fulfil the SSNP eligibility criteria, said the CPD.