BD doing well in tackling inequality: WB

Bangladesh is in a relatively good position among the South Asian countries in tackling inequality in distribution of income and expenditure, says a World Bank (WB) report. According to the report titled ‘Addressing Inequality in South Asia’, Bangladesh is 3rd among the 8 countries of the region in the inequality index – Gini coefficient or Gini index. WB’s Chief Economist for South Asia Martin Rama presented the report at NEC conference room in Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on Monday. Afghanistan and Pakistan are ahead of Bangladesh while Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bhutan are far behind it in tackling inequality. The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution like levels of income. Gini coefficients of zero expresses ‘perfect equality’ while a Gini coefficient of one expresses maximal inequality among values. According to the report, Bangladesh has Gini coefficient of 0.31 while Bhutan is on the top with 0.36 Gini coefficient. India’s Gini coefficient is 0.32 and Afghanistan’s 0.25. The report said 40 per cent of Afghanistan's marginalised poor people own 23 per cent of the country's total assets, which is the highest among the South Asian countries. The rate is 22 per cent in Pakistan while its nearly 21 per cent in Bangladesh followed by India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Total amount of assets the 40 per cent poor of the South Asian countries own is relatively satisfactory, according to the report. It added that labour mobility in these countries is also fairly satisfactory, according to a news agency.