More Nigerians fall into poverty bracket as W/Bank raises poverty line to $2.15

The number of Nigerians classified as poor may rise as the World Bank raises the poverty line to $2.15 (N936.32) from $1.90 (N827.45) beginning this month.

This is 0.25 cents higher and N108.87 more than the Monday rate of N435/$, which means that households must spend more than N936 per day to rise above the poverty line.

This was contained in a Fact Sheet post titled ‘An Adjustment to Global Poverty Lines’, which was published on the bank’s website on Tuesday.

The Bretton Woods Institution also stated that the national poverty lines for lower-middle-income countries ($3.20 per day) and upper-middle-income countries ($5.50) have been adjusted to $3.65 and $6.85, respectively.

Read also: 6 Nigerians fall into poverty every minute, we’ve more poor people than China, India combined —Obi

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.

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