Vietnam will issue its new poverty criteria, nearly doubling the current poverty tipping point in accordance with real consumer prices.
The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) has just drafted a new poverty line for the 2011-2015 period, under which a household with a monthly per- capita income of VND 350,000 (USD 19.6) or less than VND 4.2 million (USD 235.9) per year in rural areas or VND 450,000 (USD 25.2) or less than VND 5.4 million (USD 303.3) per year in urban areas would be classified as poor.
According to the draft proposal, if the consumer price index (CPI) increases by 10 per cent or more, the Government would revise the poverty standards in a flexible way, instead of the current periodical way.
At the same time, localities would be required to issue their own criteria of poverty lines based on their own real socio-economic conditions, says the draft paper.
Once approved, MoLISA’s proposed poverty lines would replace the current standards issued in 2005 and applied for the 2006-2010 period. At present, a household with a monthly per-capita income of VND 200,000 (USD 11.2) in rural areas and VND 260,000 (USD 14.6) in urban areas is classified as poor.
Vietnam’s current poverty rate is at 13 per cent, and the new poverty line would mean the nation’s poverty rate will move to more than 20 per cent, or 17.2 million people.-