E Asian poverty falls

BEIJING: East Asian poverty has dropped dramatically but rural areas risk being left behind threatening a widening income gap to urban regions, the World Bank said. The number of people living on less than two dollars per day had fallen below 500 million, with the proportion of the East Asian population in that category down from 69 per cent in 1990 to 27 per cent today, the bank said. “East Asia’s rapid growth has been primarily responsible for its remarkable success in lowering poverty,” World Bank economist Vikram Nehru said. — AFP