Bangladesh, Oct. 7 -- Bangladesh's social protection framework faces an unprecedented test as rising national poverty, persistent food inflation, and deteriorating real wages leave millions of vulnerable households exposed to severe economic shocks, according to the World Bank's latest Bangladesh Development Update.

The report was released at a press conference in the capital on Tuesday.

With state fiscal space narrowing sharply due to a historic drop in the tax-to-GDP ratio, the global lender has warned that nearly 62 per cent of the country's poor remain entirely excluded from primary government safety net schemes, underscoring the urgent necessity of structural targeting reforms.

The expansion of household distress comes on the bac...