Latest World Bank report says it is unlikely the world can meet the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.
Experts have said COVID-19 ended years of progress while war and higher prices are now making things worse.
The World Bank released a new “Poverty and Shared Prosperity” yesterday, outlining progress in the global fight to end extreme poverty.
The report called the coronavirus pandemic a historic turning point that halted decades of poverty reduction.
According to the Bank, an international developmental lending institution, 2020 saw 71 million more people living on less than three dollars a day, bringing the overall total to 719 million people and signaling the biggest single-year leap in more than 30 years.
Its analysts say the situation has now become even bleaker as Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as China’s flagging economy, inflation, and rising food and energy prices further threaten to impede progress into the future.
The President of the Bank, David Malpass, highlights the need for major growth-boosting policy reforms.
He said in order to avoid a worsening of the situation, countries need to engage more cooperation, end broad subsidies, and focus on long-term growth rather than short-term gains.
The report also documented instances in which government assistance had softened the blow of poverty while at the same time pointing out that developing nations had far fewer resources at their disposal, thus thwarting efforts aimed at poverty reduction.
FULL REPORT: COVID-19 dealt a historic blow to poverty reduction. Fiscal policy can help repair the damage