700,000 people are below poverty line in Kyrgyzstan due to COVID-19 pandemic - WB

Bishkek, March 25, 2021. / Kabar /. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kyrgyzstan, 700,000 people find themselves below the poverty line, according to the World Bank website.

The COVID-19 crisis has negatively affected the labor income of the population - the main factor in poverty reduction. Combined with the fall in the purchasing capacity of the population due to inflation, this situation has made citizens vulnerable to the economic consequences of the pandemic.

The poverty rate in Kyrgyzstan in 2020 is estimated to have increased by 11 percentage points from 20.1% in 2019 (national data). As a result, another 700,000 people fell below the poverty line, a huge figure for a country with a population of 6.6 million.