Vietnam PM Passes $3.2B Poverty Relief Program in 2021-2025

The Vietnamese Prime Minister has approved the national target program for sustainable poverty reduction in the 2021-2025 period with a minimum capital of VND75 trillion ($3.22 billion), announced the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. Of these, VND48 trillion will come from the state budget, VND12.7 trillion from local budgets, and the remaining from other sources. Under the program, the rate of poor households in accordance with the multidimensional poverty benchmark is aimed at 1%-1.5%/year, and the rate of poor families of ethnic minorities is targeted to decline by over 3%/year. Poor districts are aimed to witness a 4%-5% slump in poor households yearly. In addition, 30% of poor districts, and 30% of deeply poor communes in coastal areas and islands are aimed to escape poverty. In general, Vietnam targets to halve poor and near-poor households by 2025. (Tin Tuc, Tuoi Tre, Bao Dan Sinh)