Henry C.K. Liu
Thursday June 3 1999
World Bank
estimates 200 million
'newly poor'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated at 6.10pm:
In its first detailed look at the impact of the
Asian financial crisis on global poverty, the
World Bank estimates the world has 200
million ''newly poor'' and recommends urgent
changes in financial rescue programmes to
protect people, not just economies.
''Countries that until recently believed they
were turning the tide in the fight against
poverty are witnessing its reemergence,'' said
bank President James D. Wolfensohn. ''We
must now draw on the lessons of recent
experience to help us reshape our strategies
for the future.''
Programmes to avoid and deal with financial
crises in all countries must now boost social
protections, often called ''safety nets,'' the
bank said. They include unemployment
insurance, subsidised school fees, job
creation, food subsides and other programs
directly affecting the poor.
The bank is responding to data showing
poverty rising again in India, continuing to go
up in Africa and sharply worsening across
eastern Europe and central Asia. Indonesia,
hit early in the crisis, is among the worst off,
with 30 million more people earning less than
HK$8 a day than it had before the financial
collapse.
Worldwide, the number of people below that
income, considered the benchmark for abject
poverty, is estimated at 1.5 billion - up 200
million from 1993. Final figures for 1999 will
not be available for several years, but the
estimate is based on trends since 1.2 billion
poor were counted in 1987.
Despite the gloomy outlook, the report said
there has been widespread progress in health
and education. And an exception to the
increase is China, where the number of poor
is believed to have declined from 280 million
in 1990 to 125 million in 1997.
The bank, in a report last week based on a
survey of Asian companies, concluded that
Asian economies are recovering more quickly
than expected from the Asian crisis. The new
report points to the lasting impact of the crisis
on some of the world's poorest, diminishing
hope of cutting worldwide poverty in half by
2020 - a goal many experts had thought could
be achieved.
''The East Asia crisis and its spillover into
other emerging markets offers the world an
opportunity to devise a new approach to
crisis, one that rightly puts concern for the
poor and the vulnerable right at the centre of
its response,'' said World Bank economist
Giovanna Prennushi, who wrote the report.
''By helping countries establish stronger social
protections, the international community may
be able to prevent the sudden
impoverishment of millions of people when
crisis strikes.''
The bank has distributed to world
policymakers a working paper that lays out
plans for safeguarding the needy before and
during financial crises. The paper gauges the
impact of recent developments on the poor in
East Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Wage cuts, job reductions, lower rates of
return on savings, reduced government
benefits and drops in services such as health
care and safety can all affect people directly
and immediately, the paper says,
recommending guidelines for programs that
head off such problems.
A ''pro-poor response'' to all crises could add
up to 5 per cent to governments costs, but
could be cheaper, in the long run, than hastily
prepared relief operations that have no lasting
impact, it says.