Higher food prices, typhoon worsen Philippines poverty
Officials in the Philippines say poverty has worsened in the first
half of 2014 due to a rapid rise in food prices and the lingering
effects of a deadly typhoon, pushing the number of Filipinos living in
poverty to 25.8 percent, up 1.2 percent year-on-year.The worsening
poverty in Asia's second fastest growing economy was announced by the
Philippine Statistics Authority in a statement .
The growing impoverishment followed super typhoon Haiyan that
devastated the central Philippines in early November 2013, killing more
than 7,350 people.The government agency deems a person living off USD
1.33 or less per day as poor in the Philippines.Economic Planning
Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the average income of Filipinos rose by
6.4 percent in the first six months of 2014, but noted that "the very
high prices of food wiped out the gains in per capita income."
Balisacan said the domestic price of rice, the staple cereal that
accounts for 20 percent of the budget of low-income families, also rose
11.9 percent due to lean harvests and less imports.
7 Mar SF News
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