Poverty line to be readjusted to match rising prices

Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs has proposed the Prime Minister readjust the poverty line standard for the 2006-2010 period in accordance with the real consumer prices.

According to the proposal, a household with monthly per-capita income of
300,000 VND in rural areas and 390,000 VND in urban areas are classified as
poor households.

If the new poverty line is applied, the ratio of poor households nationwide
will make up 16.5-17.5 percent or between 3.2-3.4 million households by the
end of this year.

The data of the General Statistics Office showed the country's CPI in the
first half of the year rose by 20.34 percent year-on-year and the poor are
the hardest hit by the price hike.

Dr Vo Tri Thanh from the Central Institute for Economic Management said
foods and foodstuff account for 43 percent of the total commodities that
make up Vietnam 's CPI, while this ratio was only between 30-35 percent
in other countries. The poor spend a major portion of their income on food.

According to the poverty line issued in 2005 for the 2006-2010 period, a
household with monthly per-capita income of 200,000 VND in rural areas and
260,000 VND in urban areas are recognised as poor households.
However, this poverty line is outdated due to high inflation.

The rate of poor households was 14.8 percent by the end of last year.

To narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, the ministry also proposed
the Government take special measures to reduce poverty in 60 districts with
the poverty rate of over 50 percent.-Enditem