DHAKA, June 01, 2023 (BSS) - Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today 
proposed increasing the social safety net programme allocation by 11 percent 
year-on-year for fiscal year (FY) 2023-24.

He recommended allocating a total of Taka 126,272 crore, up from the current 
fiscal year's Taka 113,576 crore.

"Budget allocation in the social sector experienced a nine-fold increase from 
Taka 13,845 crore in FY2009-10 to Taka 1,26,272 crore in FY2023-24," he said.

The minister said this while placing over Taka 7.61 lakh crore proposed 
national budget for FY23-24 at Jatiya Sangsad in the city.

The proposed allocation is 16.58 per cent of the total budget and 2.52 per 
cent of the gross domestic product.

Kamal proposed increasing the monthly allowance for the elderly by Taka 100 
to Taka 600 and for widowed, deserted and destitute women by Taka 50 to Taka 
550.

The number of beneficiaries in both categories has been increased by one 
lakh, taking the total to 58.01 lakh and 25.75 lakh respectively.

Though, the monthly allowance for physically challenged people has been kept 
the same at Taka 850, the number of beneficiaries has been proposed to be 
increased by 5.35 lakh to 29 lakh.