POVERTY: World Bank says financial crisis has increased poverty

World Bank says GFC drove millions to poverty, cites that fragile recovery is underway
World Bank president Robert Zoellick reported on Wednesday that the recent worldwide financial crisis had resulted to an additional 60 million people living in poverty as he noted that economic gains achieved in global recovery remained frail and tentative in some economies across the globe.
Mr Zoellick said that while the world economy is undergoing recovery, governments still face the spectre of uncertainty and volatility as he estimated that tens of millions of people were rendered impoverished by the economic downturn in 2008, where in Latin America alone, up to 10 million were pushed into abject poverty.
Along that line, the World Bank is set to release a total of $US800 million or $A912.62 million of loan grants to Mexico, which the country is tasked to earmark for development, infrastructure and transportation programs.
The country currently regards poverty as those living below the threshold of $US2.85 each day with Mexican Finance Secretary Ernesto Cordero approximating that at least 5.8 million of poor Latin Americans could be found in his country.
The World Bank said that the global economic decline effectively halted the progress of countries which were exerting efforts in reducing the incidence of poverty for the last two decades.
Mr Zoellick said that the war on poverty by the world's governments was marred by some bad news and a flicker of good news too, as he specified that "the good news is there has actually been some very significant progress in reducing poverty.
He added though that as bad news, such progress "tends to depend heavily on some of the progress in China, India, Mexico and Brazil, while there were still major problems of poverty, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr Zoellick advised governments that in combating the poverty issue, they need to concentrate in dismantling barriers and slashing the costs of putting up businesses and exporting their goods while they sustain considerable investment in education and infrastructure.
He added that at this time, the World Bank is setting its sight on the fight against climate change and a global conference is set to be hosted by Mexico scheduled later this year, as he expressed apprehensions that "there is still an anxiety in the developing world that this is a developed-world issue."
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