Half of world's most vulnerable face widening gap with wealthiest economies: World Bank

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Half of the world’s 75 most vulnerable countries are facing a widening income gap with the wealthiest economies for the first time in this century, according to a World Bank report released on Monday.

The average per capita income in half of those countries has been growing more slowly than those of wealthy economies during the 2020-2024 period, said the report, The Great Reversal: Prospects, Risks, and Policies in International Development Association Countries.

One out of three of those countries is poorer on average than it was on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic, while the extreme poverty rate is more than eight times the average in the rest of the world, as one in four people struggles on less than $2.15 per day, it added.

These countries now account for 90% of all people facing hunger or malnutrition, while half of those countries are either in debt distress or at high risk of it, the report noted.

While these countries include 1.9 billion people, they can close this income gap by taking full advantage of their younger populations, rich natural resources, and abundant solar energy potential, according to the World Bank.

"Realizing this potential will require them to implement an ambitious set of policies centered on boosting investment," said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank’s deputy chief economist and director of the Prospects Group. "This means improving fiscal, monetary, and financial policy frameworks and advancing an array of structural reforms to strengthen institutions and enhance human capital."

Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s chief economist and senior vice president, said China, India, and South Korea "prospered in ways that whittled down extreme poverty and raised living standards," and added: "The welfare of these countries has always been crucial to the long-term outlook for global prosperity."