UNDP: Half of Myanmar’s population risks falling into poverty by 2022

The dual impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and Myanmar’s post-coup political crisis could could result in nearly half the population, or as many as 25 million people, falling into poverty by 2022, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warns.

In a report released on Friday (Apr 30), UNDP said the effect of the crises could push millions more people into poverty.

“COVID-19 and the ongoing political crisis are compounding shocks which are pushing the most vulnerable back and more deeply into poverty,” UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Kanni Wignaraja, told Reuters.

“The development gains made during a decade of democratic transition, however imperfect it may have been, is being erased in a matter of months,” she said, adding the country’s progress may be set back to 2005, when it was also under military rule and half of the population was poor.

The study showed that by the end of last year, on average, 83 per cent of households had reported their incomes had been cut almost in half due to the pandemic.

The number of people living below the poverty line is estimated to have increased by 11 per cent due to the socio-economic effects of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the report says a deteriorating security situation, as well as threats to human rights and development, in Myanmar since the Feb 1 coup could drive the poverty rate up by a further 12 per cent by early next year.