Govt on track to curb poverty – Pernia
THE GOVERNMENT is on the right track in its goal to reduce poverty incidence in the country to 14 percent in 2022, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said on Wednesday. During the weekly economic the reduction, sharp reduction in
- poverty incidence by 6.7 percentage nia said the country had almost points, which translates to 2.3 achieved its target, with poverty percentage points every year reduction. incidence hitting only 16.6 percent So, it’s now 16.6 percent. in 2018, 2.6 percentage points So, if we project it to the future, away from the 14-percent target assuming that it will continue to set for 2022. decrease by about two to 2.3 percentage
“So, I suppose that everybody points every year, then we is heartened by the news about should easily reach our objective that by the end of this President’s administration, poverty incidence will go down to 14 percent,” Pernia told reporters.
“So, it’s a walk in the park na maaabotnatinang (that we can reach) 14 percent by 2022. By next year, maaabotna‘yun (we will reach that target). Mag- exceed natayo (We will exceed that). We will have poverty incidence even lower than 14 percent by next year if we go by the rate of decline in poverty incidence. So, ‘yunang magandangbalita (that’s the good news),” he added.
Pernia, who is also the head of the National Economic and Development Authority, said with the country’s performance in 2018, around 5.9 million Filipinos had already been lifted out of poverty.
“Our target was only 6 million Filipinos will be lifted out of poverty from the start of this President’s administration to 2022. Peronaabotna‘yun (We were able to reach that target) in two years time,” he said.
Last week, the government reported that the number of poor Filipinos decreased to 17.6 million in 2018 from 23.5 million in 2015.
The poverty incidence among the population or the proportion of poor Filipinos, whose per capita their basic food and non- food needs, was estimated at 16.6 percent last year from 23.3 percent in 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa earlier said that in 2018, a family of five needed at least P10,727 per month to meet food and non-food needs.
She added that poverty incidence among Filipino families was estimated at 12.1 percent from 17.9 percent in 2015.
“This means that 121 out of 1,000 families have incomes below the amount needed to buy their basic food and non- food needs,” she said.