Elderly, widow, disabled allowances to rise in FY26

Budget also proposes expanding food aid and smart family card coverage from January

The 2025–26 budget proposes higher monthly payments for elderly citizens, widows, abused women, people with disabilities and recipients of the mother-and-child support programme.

Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed presented the Tk 7.9 trillion national budget in a televised address on Monday.

He said the plan aims to reduce poverty, narrow social inequality and improve living standards by expanding both the number of beneficiaries and the size of individual payments.

Under the proposal, elderly citizens would receive Tk 650 per month, up from Tk 600.

Payments for widows and abused women would rise from Tk 550 to Tk 650, people with disabilities from Tk 850 to Tk 900, and mothers with children from Tk 800 to Tk 850.

Grants for disadvantaged communities would also be set at Tk 650.

To cushion the impact of inflation, 5.7 million families will receive essential items like lentils and soyabean oil through smart family cards starting in January 2025, said Salehuddin.

The interim government also proposed extending the food-friendly programme by six months and expanding its reach to cover 500,000 additional families, bringing the total to 5.5 million.

The total allocation for social protection in FY26 has been proposed at Tk 1.17 trillion.

Excluding pensions, spending on safety net programmes would amount to Tk 912.97 billion.