Ex-UN special rapporteur lauds Putrajaya for raising poverty line

Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Philip Alston has praised Putrajaya for following through with a commitment to raise the poverty line in order to give a more accurate picture of the state of poverty in the country.

He said this in reference to the government's announcement yesterday that the absolute poverty line has been revised from RM980 to RM2,208.

"Malaysia's government has taken a courageous step towards bringing its poverty line closer to reality.

"The line announced today is more than double the previous one and results in an official poverty rate 14 times higher than previously acknowledged," he said in a statement.

According to the old poverty line of RM980, which was set in 2005, the absolute poverty line was at 0.4 percent in 2016 and would have been 0.2 percent in 2019.

However, the update means absolute poverty was at 7.6 percent in 2016 and 5.6 percent in 2019.

“Adjusting the line is a vital first step. The challenge now is to systematically address poverty by instituting a comprehensive social protection scheme and to provide greater data transparency, in line with almost all democratic countries.

"The government also needs to take seriously the plight of millions of non-citizens who are disproportionately affected by poverty and excluded from official figures, indigenous people who face severe discrimination and rights violations, and women who have exceptionally low rates of workforce participation," Alston said.

Still not realistic enough

However, Alston said the absolute poverty rate of 5.6 percent under the updated poverty line is still too low and therefore hopes the poverty line will be increased further in future.

"Because the new poverty rate of 5.6 percent is just one-third of that estimated by almost all independent analyses, I hope that the government will include an even more realistic benchmark in the 12th Malaysia Plan," he said.

Alston had previously expressed concern that the Perikatan Nasional government was backtracking on a commitment made by the previous Pakatan Harapan government to increase the poverty line.

A more up-to-date poverty line is essential to get an accurate picture of poverty in the country so policymakers can respond accordingly.

As the UN special rapporteur, Alston had last year conducted research on the state of poverty in Malaysia and concluded that the poverty line was unrealistic.

International Trade and Industries Minister Azmin Ali (photo), then economic affairs minister, defended the 0.4 percent figure and reportedly described Aston's statements as unacceptable and irresponsible.

However, the then prime minister's economic adviser Muhammed Abdul Khalid said the government should accept the reality that the country's poverty yardstick was outdated. - Mkini