The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has linked the COVID-19 to a rise in poverty among Myanmar’s poorest in both rural and urban areas. The study surveyed 1000 people in Yangon and 1000 living in the central dry zone. In both cases, more than half earned less that USD 1.90 per day, a common measure of poverty used by the World Bank. That is a massive rise from pre-pandemic studies, IFPRI said.

“Only 16% of our respondents were poor in January this year before the COVID crisis hit, but now 62% are poor. What is really worrying is that during the second COVID-19 wave one-third of our households said they earned zero income in the last month,” Eureka Alert quoted IFPRI senior research fellow Derek Headey as saying.

Exports, manufacturing and tourism have been the hardest-hit industries. The study, called “Poverty, food insecurity, and social protection during COVID-19 in Myanmar: Combined evidence from a household telephone survey and micro-simulations,” prescribed more direct cash payments to help mitigate rising poverty. Although Myanmar’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan includes direct payments to households, it has prioritized SMEs and pandemic-affected industries. This week the Myanmar Times reported public outcry over missing or lower-than-promised payments.