Starting 2020, poverty incidence in the Philippines is projected to fall below 20 percent.
According to the World Bank, poverty rate is seen declining at 19.8 percent next year and 18.7 percent in 2021.
By the end of 2019, the poverty incidence rate is expected to be around 20.8 percent.
This is more than five percent down from the 26 percent in 2015, more than four percent in 2016, more than three percent in 2017, and more than one percent in 2018.
The medium-term poverty projections were based on the lower middle-income poverty line of $3.20 (Php 163.78) per day.
A report from the Macro Poverty Outlook for East Asia and the Pacific was released this week during the sidelines of the Washington-based lender’s annual meeting.
The report also cited the contribution of the government’s conditional cash transfer program or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
It said that the scheme helped “cushion the impact of negative shocks”.
The declining trend of the poverty incidence was attributed to the continuous expansion of non-agriculture wage employment, rising real wage, the continuation of social programs, and stabilizing inflation.
How will the Philippines continue this rate?
World Bank says the country needs to foster high-quality job creation and boosting human capital investment that would enhance the impact of economic growth on poverty reduction and shared prosperity.
It also advise that targeted investments and supportive business regulations are needed in industries and sectors that generate high-quality jobs in order to increase the growth impact on poverty and inequality.
For workforce to stay competitive in a fast-changing global work environment, the report said human capital investments in education and health must be fortified, including training and skills development.
The latest poverty incidence figure is equivalent to 23.1 million poor Filipinos, which is more than five million down from the 28.8 million below the poverty threshold three years ago.
