After seven adjustments since 1992, the official poverty level in HCMC is now three times higher than the national standards.
 |
| HCMC raises poverty standard to VND16 million per person per year |
In 2011, the government announced new standards for households to be considered poor for the period between 2011 and 2015, which indicated that the the national poverty line for households in cities would be VND6 million(USD285) per person per year.
However, authorities in HCMC had lifted the poverty line from VND6 million to VND12 million for the period of 2009 to 2015.
The rate of poor households in HCMC decreased from 8.4% to 0.17%, and the city has announced it has nearly accomplished its goal of erasing poverty. According to the city People's Committee, even with the yearly average income level exceeding the mark of VND12 million, many households still struggle and are in danger of falling back below the line.
Representative from the city People's Committee said, "As a matter of fact, adjusted for inflation, VND12 million in 2013 is equal to VND7.2 million in 2009. We had to adjust the poverty line in accordance with inflation and economic development."
For the period of 2014 to 2015, city authorities increased the poverty line to VND16 million per person per year. The near-poverty standard was also raised to VND21 million. After the raise, HCMC now has 130,000 poor households, accounting for 7.12% of the city’s total population.
Even though its poverty standards are three times higher than national standards, authorities in HCMC said that poor households must continue to be entitled to receive social welfare benefits such as preferential bank loans and taxes.