SE Asian poverty levels set to double: World Bank<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (AFP): Poverty is set to more than double in crisis-
\nhit Southeast Asian countries as income distribution worsens amid
\nthe regional financial crisis, a World Bank expert said on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The numbers of people living under the poverty line in four
\ncrisis-hit countries could soar from 40 million to 90 million as
\na direct result of the economic turmoil which began in Thailand
\nin mid-1997, the expert said.<\/p>\n
\"The impacts are really very dramatic,\" World Bank lead
\nspecialist in East Asia, Richard Newfarmer, said in a briefing
\nfor business people and academics here.<\/p>\n
He said that under the worst case scenario, the number of
\npeople living in poverty in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia
\nand Indonesia will more than double between 1997 and 2000.<\/p>\n
That assumed an overall 10 percent reduction in output over
\nthe three-year period and a 10 percent worsening in inequality of
\nincome distribution, factors which Newfarmer said were possible.<\/p>\n
\"This underscores the importance in government policy in
\nprotecting lower income groups and ensuring that the
\nconcentration of income or worsening of income distribution
\ndoesn't in fact occur,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that even without the expected growing inequality in
\nincome distribution, the number of people living in poverty in
\nThailand would rise from nine million to 13 million -- or about
\n23 percent of the population -- over the period.<\/p>\n
Thailand has been one of the countries worst hit by the crisis
\nand accepted a US$17.2 billion rescue package from the
\nInternational Monetary Fund in August last year.<\/p>\n
Newfarmer said governments throughout the region had to spend
\nmore on services for lower income earners and job creation
\nschemes for unskilled workers.<\/p>\n
Medium-term reforms such as pension reforms, unemployment
\ninsurance and education investment were becoming even more
\n\"urgent\" as the impact of the crisis on the poor became clearer.<\/p>\n
\"In Indonesia the access to rice has become terribly important
\nand the government has had to fight assertively to maintain
\ndistribution channels,\" he said.<\/p>\n
School enrollments, meanwhile, have fallen from 78 percent to
\n54 percent of children in Indonesia since the crisis began.<\/p>\n
\"This would imply a ripple effect for over a generation
\nbecause human capital would be lost and the potential of those
\nchildren who are forced to drop out of school ... would be lost,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He said the Japanese government's $30 billion stimulus fund
\nfor its troubled Asian neighbors would \"go a long way toward
\nspeeding recovery in the region.<\/p>\n
But recovery depended on a range of factors including external
\nevents in world markets such as Japan and Latin America.<\/p>\n
\"The prospect of a world recession is perhaps more likely than
\nit was six months ago,\" Newfarmer said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/se-asian-poverty-levels-set-to-double-world-bank-1447893297",
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