More Nigerians fall into poverty bracket as W/Bank raises poverty line to $2.15
by ebor cletus ralph jr
In light of the World Bank’s recent decision to raise the poverty threshold from $1.90 (N827.45) to $2.15 (N936.32), the number of Nigerians who are considered to be poor may increase.
As a result, households need to spend more than N936 per day in order to live over the poverty line. This is 0.25 cents higher and N108.87 more than the Monday rate of N435/$.
This information was presented in a Fact Sheet entry titled “An Adjustment to Global Poverty Lines” that the bank put online on Tuesday.
The national poverty lines for lower-middle-income countries ($3.20 per day) and upper-middle-income countries ($5.50) have been revised to $3.65 and $6.85, respectively, according to the Bretton Woods Institution.
The dollar-a-day poverty line was introduced by the World Bank in its 1990 World Development Report, which was based on the 1985 Purchasing Power Parities (PPP).
The bank revised the international poverty line from $1 per day in the 1985 PPPs to $1.08 in the 1993 PPPs, $1.25 in the 2005 PPPs, and $1.90 in the 2011 PPPs.
But with increasing prices, the World bank believed it was important for the poverty line benchmark to be revised
“This means that everyone living on less than $2.15 per day will be considered in extreme poverty,” the bank explained.
