World Bank to lend $150 mln for Bangladesh job scheme

(Reuters) - Bangladesh will receive a $150 million loan from the World Bank to support a government programme to create temporary jobs for the poorest people in the country.

The World Bank said in a statement that the money would help generate 100 days employment each year for 35 million people in extreme poverty, a third of them women whose spouses earn too little to support their families.

According to studies by the World Bank and others, around 60 million of Bangladesh’s more than 150 million people live in poverty, or on less than $1 a day.

The World Bank credit is designed to support the poorest of the poor. Each year the government runs multiple short-term employment schemes for those people, including the 100-day program.