The devastating impact of Covid pandemic on the world’s poorest countries has brought poverty reduction to a hslt and led to a widening income gap with nations in the rich west, the World Bank has warned in a new report.
The Washington-based organization highlighted that half of the world’s 75 poorest nations had seen income per head rise more slowly than in developed countries over the past five years.
The Bank’s study revealed that one in three countries eligible for grants and concessional loans under its International Development Association (IDA) arm was poorer, on average, than it was on the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic.
More than half of all IDA countries – 39 of the 75 – are in sub-Saharan Africa, while 14, mainly small island states are in east Asia. Eight are in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in south Asia, only India is not an IDA country.
