WB approves $300m to improve cash transfer

The World Bank approved on Thursday a $300 million financing to improve the transparency and efficiency of major cash transfer programmes in Bangladesh, reports UNB.
This will benefit about 5.0 million of the country's poorest and most vulnerable people.
The Cash Transfer Modernisation Project will help the Department of Social Services under the Ministry of Social Welfare modernise some of the country's largest cash transfer programmes for the poor elderly persons, widows and people with disabilities.
The project aims to shift the operating processes of these programmes from a manual, paper-based system to an automated, integrated and electronically-managed system.
This will ensure greater effectiveness in the overall cash transfer service delivery process, said the WB on Wednesday.
"Bangladesh has cut by half the number of people living in extreme poverty. This is a remarkable achievement. Yet many people remain poor and vulnerable," said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.
"The World Bank is helping the government modernize its safety net programs by improving pro-poor targeting, streamlining administrative systems, and addressing program fragmentations. This will help reach people in need and use public resources more effectively."
The project will help upgrade the Department's management information systems.
To identify potential recipients of cash transfers, it will integrate the Department's management information system with the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' National Household Database.
For more secure and accessible payments to beneficiaries, the system will be linked to payment service providers. Using existing digital systems, it will further develop an integrated social protection service delivery system in the country.
The project will also help build human resource capacity and improve citizen engagement.