East Asia Experiencing Rapid Economic Growth, Record Low Poverty
The World Bank reports that East Asia is experiencing its fasted rate of economic growth since the 1997 financial crisis. The upshot is that the strong economic growth has lifted an estimated 40 million people out of poverty in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
In a press release, the World Bank’s Regional Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Mr. Jemal-ud-din Kassum said (emphasis added),
We are estimating that by the end of this year, the number of people living on less than $2 a day will be around one third of the region’s population. Even excluding China, the absolute number of poor would be at their lowest level ever, finally overcoming the higher poverty created by the 1997 crisis. This expansion is happening during a time of major political advances with a sweep of legislative and presidential elections, including Indonesia’s first ever direct election of a president, capping what looks like being a remarkable year for the region.
The main obstacle to further growth in 2005 and beyond, the World Bank notes, are continuing high oil prices which could cut 0.5 to 1 percentage point off of the current 7 percent growth rate the region is experiencing.
Economic growth, as usual, is the key to lifting people out of poverty.
Source:
East Asia Region Set To Grow by Healthy 7 Percent In 2004. Press Release, World Bank, November 9, 2004.
East Asia poverty at ‘record low’. The BBC, November 9, 2004.
Economy pushes Asia poverty down. CNN, November 8, 2004.
The East Asia Experiencing Rapid Economic Growth, Record Low Poverty by Brian Carnell, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
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