Manila: In accordance to the Asian Development Bank, the coronavirus pandemic and rise in living expenses have made it so that as of last year, nearly 70 million more people in developing Asia were living in extreme poverty, undermining efforts to fight poverty.
According to a new report released on Thursday by the ADB, the number of people in developing Asia who were living in extreme poverty as of last year was estimated to be 155.2 million, or 3.9 percent of the region's population. This is 67.8 million more people than would have been the case had the health and cost-of-living crises not occurred.
Japan, Australia, and New Zealand are not considered to be part of developing Asia, which consists of 46 economies in the Asia-Pacific.
"Asia and the Pacific is steadily recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the increased cost-of-living crisis is undermining progress towards eliminating poverty," said Albert Park, chief economist for the Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to statistics from 2017, if you make less than $2.15 a day, you are considered to be in extreme poverty.
Due to an increase in supply chain disruptions and a rebound in economic activity, inflation reached multi-year highs in the majority of countries last year. Everyone was affected by price increases, but the poorest individuals suffered more because they had to spend more on fuel and food, which made it more difficult for them to save money and pay for necessities like health care and education.
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Governments in the area can regain control by "strengthening social safety nets for the poor and fostering investment and innovation that creates opportunities for growth and employment," according to Park.
According to the ADB, developing Asia was on track to grow 4.8 percent from a year earlier this year, outpacing the 4.2 percent expansion from the prior year.
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Although the ADB predicted that economies in developing Asia would make progress in reducing poverty, it also predicted that by 2030, 30.3% of the region's population, or 1.26 billion people, would still be regarded as economically vulnerable