One of the outstanding strengths of InM is its long and wide experience in managing and conducting in-depth and varied action and policy research in all major areas of socioeconomic development in developing countries, especially in the context of Bangladesh. The key feature of InM research is its emphasis on conceiving the research frame within an integrated framework to support inclusive and equitable transformation towards prosperity and suggest prudent policy making based on ground realities and lessons learned from development successes both from home and abroad.
The Institute specifically works on strengthening the links between financial and real sectors in priority areas including inclusive finance, digital financial services, poverty, gender equality, human dignity, and inclusive development. Over the years, InM has completed several research studies under the funding of various donor organisations like, DFID, JICA, UNDP, FAO, Plan International, European Union, World Bank, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Nathan Associates London Limited, IGES, PKSF and others. Total number of policy/research studies conducted by InM over the last 14 years is 82. The following research studies are currently ongoing:
Access to long-term, affordable housing finance remains a significant constraint to the development of Bangladesh’s housing sector, particularly for the low and middle-income households. Rapid urbanisation, sustained population growth, and rising land and construction costs have intensified housing demand, while the supply of affordable housing finance continues to lag behind escalating market demands. The absence of stable, long-tenor funding sources for mortgage lending has limited the ability of financial institutions to scale up housing finance and offer affordable loan terms.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has commissioned a feasibility study for establishing the Bangladesh Mortgage Refinance Company (BMRC) that will function as a specialised secondary mortgage liquidity facility, providing long-term refinancing to primary mortgage lenders (PMLs) and thereby would strengthen the sustainability and depth of the housing finance market in Bangladesh.
The primary market research for the feasibility study focusing on the demand side of the prospective households is currently being conducted by InM in association with IFC and the Altair Consultancy and Advisory Services Ltd of London.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has recently initiated the project performance evaluation (PPE) of its ‘Promoting Agricultural Commercialization and Enterprises (PACE)’ Project which was implemented by PKSF by its partner organisations. The PPE is being carried out by IFAD’s Independent Evaluation Division in which InM researchers are providing research and advisory support including collection of field level data and information for the evaluation. The objectives of the evaluation are to: provide an independent assessment of the overall results of the project and generate findings and recommendations for the design and implementation of ongoing and future IFAD operations in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Poverty Watch Report 2025 is the fourth in the series of this Report jointly prepared by the Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM) and the Center for Inclusive Development Dialogue (CIDD). These Reports aim to ensure that grass root voices of the ‘left behind’ disadvantaged and excluded populations are heard, and their voices are reflected in policies. The Poverty Watch Report 2025 examines the nature, extent and the dynamics of the slum dwellers in Dhaka city – which are concentrated in old city areas, along rivers and rail corridors, and on the city’s fringes where rapid urbanisation, poverty, vulnerability, exclusion and weak urban planning intersect. The central part of the Report consists of the voices and opinions drawn from face-to-face interviews and meetings with individuals from selected slums in Dhaka city conducted during September-December 2025. In the ‘stories’, the participants shared their experience of living in slums that led to their deeper poverty and exclusion; putting them into extremely difficult conditions re-inforced by systemic failures and structural inequalities. The Report also highlights the poverty dynamics in selected slums of Dhaka city using field level data and information, discussion meetings, and case studies, identifying the priority policy agenda for the slum dwellers.
The analysis brings out emerging priorities for policies as well as recommendations for policy makers which are intertwined throughout the Report. The key value addition emerges from testimonies, reflections, proposals and ‘stories’ of persons who are victims of endemic poverty and exclusion in Dhaka city, often described as ‘dark shadows under the light’—a poignant metaphor for the extreme socioeconomic disparities, where the glitter of modern, wealthy, and developed urban areas directly obscures the poverty, neglect, and precarious living conditions of the marginalised communities living in their immediate shadow.
