24.5m non-poor people slip into poverty due to Covid-19: Survey

The number of the new poor in the country stood at 24.5 million, or 14.7 per cent of total population, in March due to fallout of Covid pandemic, according to a latest survey.

The rate of extreme poverty also increased by 4 per cent since beginning of coronavirus outbreak, the survey found.

Power and Participation Research Centre and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development jointly conducted a three-phase rapid telephonic survey between April 2020 and March 2021.

PPRC and BIGD on Tuesday at a virtual press briefing released the findings of the third-round survey conducted in March 2021 on 6,099 rural and urban slum households across the country.

PPRC executive chairman Hossain Zillur Rahman said that the poverty crisis was deepening in the country due to the pandemic.

'Despite some recovery, around 24.5 million vulnerable people who were above poverty line before pre-Covid period, has slipped into poverty,’ he said.

‘The number is very high and the government would have to pay attention to address the issue,’ he said.

The survey also found a 4 per cent rise in extreme poverty within the survey sample, he added.

He also said that households were facing second wave of the infection with significantly depleted coping capacity as savings declined by 24 per cent and 11 per cent in rural and urban households respectively, debt burden doubled between April 2020 and March 2021 for most groups.

BIGD executive director Imran Matin spoke at the briefing, among others.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/135877/245m-non-poor-people-slip-into-poverty-due-to-covid-19-survey