FG Clarifies Nigeria’s Poverty Rating

US Secretary of Defence, Chuck Hagel and Japanese Defence Minister, Itsunori Onodera

The Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says World Bank’s “extreme poor nation” rating of Nigeria was based on the large number of poor people living in the country.
Okonjo-Iweala made the clarification when she interacted with newsmen in Abuja last Thursday.
World Bank President, Dr Jim Kim, on Wednesday in Washington, announced that Nigeria was among the world’s extremely poor countries.
The other countries that were also rated as Nigeria were India, China, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Kim had said “the fact is that two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor are concentrated in just five countries: India, China, Nigeria, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“If you add another five countries, Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya, the total grows to 80 per cent of the extreme poor,” he said.
Okonjo-Iweala explained that the number of poor people in a country irrespective of the country’s level of development was the parameter used to rate Nigeria among nations with high poverty level.
According to her, the phenomenon of large number of poor people is peculiar with middle-income countries which Nigeria belonged.
“Indian is a middle-income country, one of the largest economies in the world like Nigeria, is a big economy, but the largest number of poor people in the world reside in Indian, China and other places.
“Most middle-income countries, including Brazil have large number of poor people that is the reality of today and Nigeria is no exception.