Gender-relevant budget allocation reached BDT 326,059.8 crore in FY2027—34.8 per cent of the total national budget and 4.8 per cent of GDP—but the 23 per cent year-on-year nominal increase masks a fundamental restructuring around a single flagship programme rather than broad-based growth across women’s priorities. The Family Card Programme, which allocated BDT 14,500 crore to enrol 4.1 million women, is responsible for the Ministry of Social Welfare’s gender-relevant share jumping from 42.5 to 69.4 per cent. Several long-standing women-focused programmes including ‘Enhancing Adaptive Capacities of Coastal Communities, especially Women, to Cope with Climate Change Induced Salinity’, and ‘ProGRESS’, were substantially cut or left to wind down to nominal allocations, even as the headline gender budget grew.

Authors: Preetilata Khondaker Huq
Publication Period: June 2026