According to the report, the poverty rate increased to 25.13 percent at the end of 2020.
Although the government does not have the latest data of new poor as a result of Covid-19 crisis, the report's lead researcher, Binayak Sen, warns that the second wave of the pandemic could take a more severe humanitarian and economic toll.
Reflecting on last year's situation, Binayak, now the director general of BIDS, fears a frequent shift in the policy over the lockdown and reopening businesses would hardly make any positive impact on containing the rogue virus.
"There would be a rise in the infection, which would lead to more deaths and prompt the government to go for a stricter lockdown. People's livelihood would be destroyed and the poverty rate would further rise," he told The Daily Star.