KUALA LUMPUR – Putrajaya will establish a “Poverty Circle” comprising representatives from the government, private sector, civil society organisations and academia to discuss and formulate the best strategies to tackle the issue.
In a statement today, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said it will be administered by the Economic Planning Unit.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. However, it also provides opportunities to Malaysia to reset its development towards a future that is more prosperous, inclusive and sustainable.”
Overall, he said, the country has made good progress in addressing poverty and improving the people’s well-being.
Based on the 2019 poverty line income, the absolute poverty rate reduced to 5.6%, or 405,441 households, that year from the 7.6% (525,743 households) recorded in 2016.
According to the Statistics Department, the pandemic led to the poverty rate increasing to 8.4% in 2020 from 5.6% a year earlier.
The hardcore poverty rate dropped to 0.4% (27,158 households) in 2019 from 0.6% (45,004 households) three years prior.
Mustapa said the incidence of poverty is lower for all ethnic groups, with the Bumiputera community seeing the biggest decline.
However, he said, there are still poverty and inequality clusters, as well as various poverty dimensions – poverty in a wider context, involving health, education and basic facilities, among others.
“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Malaysia’s economy has affected the people’s income and driven more households into poverty, particularly among the B40 and vulnerable groups.” – Bernama, June 17, 2021
