The effects of the pandemic, rise in inequality and soaring food prices globally owing to the war in Ukraine are expected to push more than a quarter of a billion more people into poverty this year, according to charity group Oxfam International.
The group in a report on Tuesday said the combined impact could result in a total of 860 million people living below the $1.90 per day level by the end of 2022, which is 263 million higher than the prediction before the pandemic.
For reference, that's the population of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain combined.
Oxfam published its findings ahead of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meetings, scheduled to be held next week in Washington, where global economic challenges and the shock of the Russian invasion are expected to be among the main focuses.
The poorer nations will be hit the worst, with food costs accounting for 40 per cent of consumer spending in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 17 per cent in richer economies, Oxfam said, citing an IMF report.
The return of inflation, Oxfam warns, is a prescription for financial chaos in low-income nations, which rely on dollars to import energy, medicine, and food, and whose debt is mostly denominated in US currency.
To remedy the situation, Oxfam came up with a number of solutions, including a 2 per cent yearly wealth tax on millionaires and a 5 per cent tax on billionaires, which would produce $2.52 trillion each year. This amount would be sufficient to bring 2.3 billion people out of poverty, provide enough vaccines for the entire planet, and offer universal health care and social safety to all people in low and lower middle income countries.
Oxfam is also requesting the Group of 20 major countries to cancel all loan payments for all low and lower middle income countries that require them this year and next year.
The organization estimates that debt servicing for all of the world’s poorest countries will amount to $43 billion this year — equivalent to almost half their food-import bills and public spending on health care combined.
