417.15 EUR 
Armenia’s Finance Ministry foresees poverty rate cut to 13.6% by 2025
YEREVAN, March 12. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Ministry of Finance forecasts the poverty rate in the republic will be cut to 13.6% by 2025, according to “Strategic program for perspective development 2012-2025.”
By 2025 the poverty rate will have stood at 13.6%, and the number of extremely poor will account to 1.8% of the population at poverty threshold of 56, 716 drams per month (or 11%).
In 2012 the poverty rate was 33.1% of the population, the number of extremely poor accounted for 2.8% at the poverty threshold of 36, 192 drams per
month, according to Finance Ministry.
It is noteworthy that the current evaluation applies to new assessment methodology, thus if the experts used the old methodology when compiling the statistics, the poverty rate in 2012 would be assessed at 26.7%.
Finance Ministry says in 2013 the poverty rate will be 32.1%, extremely poverty-2.7%, the poverty threshold- 37,468 drams per month ( or 25.9% by the old methodology).
Over the next eight years the poverty rate is anticipated to inch down by 14.3 p.p., dropping by average 2 p.p. annually, and it will have reached 17.8% by 2021, and the number of extremely poor will have hit 2% at the poverty threshold of 49, 520 drams per month (or 14.4%).
The program states the minimal salary in 2017 will stand at 160% of the upper poverty line versus 90-92% in 2010-2011, 210% --in 2021, 260%--in 2025.
The program also covers the reduction of poverty among pensioners. As a result, pensions will stand at 135% of the upper poverty line in 2017, nearly 165%-in 2021, about 200%-in 2025. ($1 – 410.71 drams). -0-
13:24 12.03.2013
