Rafizi: Solving hardcore poverty doesn’t mean no more poor people
KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Efforts to eradicate hardcore poverty in the country was not the same as ensuring no Malaysians were still poor, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli explained to Opposition lawmakers in Parliament today.
He said the two terms — hardcore poverty and poor — were not synonymous, with each indicating different and relative degrees of economic hardship.
“Because the extreme poverty line changes from year to year, so we have to look at the official report of how much extreme poverty there are in that year.
“That is how the government sets it target on how much (amount) to set aside each year. If there is 20,000 only 20,00 is set aside, if there is 40,000, then 40,000 is set aside.
“It does not mean that there are zero poor, or eradicating hardcore poverty meant that there are no poor in the country, because poverty is relative. Because if that's the case, there's no need to have a government, there's no need to have zakat,” Rafizi told the Parliament during question time today.
He was responding to Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib (PAS-Maran) who asked for the current number of hardcore poor in the country.
Ismail said extreme poverty is still heavily discussed currently, asking if this meant related announcements in Budget 2023 were meant to distract from rising costs in the country.
In his response, Rafizi said data on extreme poverty was included in the country’s official economic indicators, which were then used to guide policies in response.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has repeatedly spoke of the need to eradicate hardcore poverty in the country.
In February, the prime minister cited success in Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka where government measures had help lift households there out of extreme poverty.
