Poverty remains one of the main challenges in the country. According to the Poverty Analysis Report 2017, the country’s poverty rate stands at 8.21 per cent. And to gather diverse views and ways to address the issue, the World Bank Group held a consultation with stakeholders in Thimphu.
The WBG is a unique global partnership fighting poverty worldwide.
The World Bank Group (WBG) is preparing a new Country Partnership Framework for Bhutan that will outline its strategic support in the country for the period 2020-2024. The WBG updates its strategy and work plan every four to five years to reflect the evolving priorities of its clients’ countries.
The Bank has carried out a Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) which analysed the main challenges Bhutan faces in ending extreme poverty. And as per SCD, a total of five major challenges were identified to reduce poverty in the country.
The Lead Economist and Program Leader of WBG Dr Yutaka Yoshino said, “There is a lack of quality jobs available for educated youth. So the youth unemployment is the emerging issue for the country. The second challenge we identified is the microeconomic vitality and also the vulnerability. We see remaining inequality in the country, particularly areas within the country and also between men and women. There is a high vulnerability from the natural disaster and also the climate change which really hit the poor very hard. And the last one is whether the policymakers are actually implementing policy based on evidence.”
He said, through this consultation, the bank has got some ideas on how to address these identified issues.
“One big point raised is a way to expand the space for private sector growth. I think there are few participants who raised a point that the government is very important to manage the policies or to implement the policies. But at the same time, it is the private sector who sustain the growth in the country, provide jobs, and also the private sector is the one who connects Bhutan with rest of the world through trade and investment.”
The World Bank will help the government implement policy reforms to remove those challenges.
Pema Seldon Tshering
