Income inequality on the rise

This letter is in reference to the article titled 'Bangladesh 3rd in fastest growing rich population' that was published in the Financial Express on January 20, 2019.

The article mentioned that a new study by Wealth-X has ranked Bangladesh as the third among the fastest growing rich population in the world. The global study released last week found that Bangladesh's high net worth population are expected to increase by 11.4 per cent by 2023. Bangladesh is only behind Nigeria (16.3 per cent) and Egypt (12.5 per cent). Wealth-X places anyone under 'high net work' category when the person has wealth that ranges between $ 1.0 million and $ 30 million. Anyone with wealth more than $ 30 million is placed in 'ultra high-net worth' category by Wealth-X. Another report by Wealth-X in September of 2018 had ranked Bangladesh as the number one country with the highest number of ultra high net worth (UHNW) population which increased by 17.3 per cent during the period of 2012-2017.

The policymakers need to seriously consider these reports and their findings. These studies have highlighted the fact that income inequality is increasing in Bangladesh. This is in stark contrast to the findings of World Bank's 'Poverty and Share Prosperity-2018' report where Bangladesh was ranked fifth for having the highest number of ultra-poor people. The WB study mentioned that there are 24.1 million ultra-poor people in Bangladesh.

The article in FE quoted an expert who recommended the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics conduct a comprehensive wealth survey in a bid to address rising inequality. After such a wealth survey is conducted, a more effective wealth tax system can be implemented.

Akibul Javed,

Indira Road, Dhaka