In Myanmar, it was announced that half of the country’s population may be at risk of poverty by 2022 due to the negative effects of COVID-19 and the February 1 military coup on the economy.
In the report entitled “COVID-19, Coup and Poverty: Negative Shocks and Impacts on Human Development in Myanmar”.
Prepared by the United Nations Development Program, the instability that occurred after the epidemic and the military coup had affected the household after checking income in Myanmar.
In the report, if the loss of income and protests caused by the COVID-19 epidemic did not intervene to negatively affect the economy.
So another 12 million people in Myanmar will fall to poverty this year.
While 25 million people have entered, equivalent to half of the country’s population, they are below the poverty line, and it has been confirmed that it will decline.
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Poverty will increase by 22 percent by 2022
In the report, which stated that 83 percent of Myanmar households lost their income by half due to COVID-19 in 2020.
It was announced that the number of people living below the poverty line increased by 11 percent due to the COVID-19 outbreak last year.
The report warned that the currency of Kyat, the local currency of Myanmar, lost great value due to acts of civil disobedience and sanctions decisions after the coup.
If this situation continues, the country’s poverty rate will rise by 12 percent until 2022.
The country with the lowest national income in ASEAN
UNDP Representative in Myanmar Stephen Anderson announced on April 22 that nearly 3.4 million people are at risk of starvation.
This is due to the crisis caused by the military coup and the protests in Myanmar.
Myanmar, with a population of 54 million, is the country with the lowest national income per capita among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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Military coup in Myanmar
The Myanmar military seized the administration on February 1 after allegations of fraud in the November 8, 2020 elections, and political tension escalated in the country.
The military also arrested many officials and leaders of the ruling party, including the de facto leader of the country and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, and declared a state of emergency for a year.
759 people died
Since the start of the anti-coup protests, 759 people have died as a result of the armed intervention of the security forces in the protests.
While widespread demonstrations continue in the country, detained senior government officials are being tried before a military court.
