Dhaka, June 21 -- The FY2026-27 social security budget is the largest in Bangladesh's history. At Tk 1,44,338 crore ( or Tk 1.44 trillion), it represents a 14 per cent nominal increase, presented by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury in Parliament as evidence of decisive movement toward the government's commitment to raise social protection spending to 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by FY2027-28. The reported figure this year is 2.11 per cent of GDP.

The right question is not whether this budget is large. It is whether it is strategic and fiscally credible, whether it moves Bangladesh structurally closer to that 3 per cent target, or whether it is largely reclassification and a new flagship programme without a clea...