Military seizes power in Myanmar (World Socialist Web)
February 1
World Socialist Web published an article on the military coup in Myanmar. In the article, IFPRI research is mentioned. According to IFPRI, lockdowns have contributed to major job losses and a dramatic rise in poverty. A September IFPRI survey found that 59 percent of 1,000 households surveyed in urban Yangon and 66 percent of 1,000 households surveyed in the country’s rural dry zone earned less than $US1.90 a day—a commonly used benchmark for extreme poverty. Only 16 percent of respondents in a similar survey in January 2020 were in extreme poverty. “That level of poverty poses huge risks for food insecurity and malnutrition,” Derek Headey, lead author of the study, commented. “Though necessary to control the virus, lockdown periods have resulted in disastrous impacts on poverty and need to be accompanied by larger and better-targeted cash transfers if Myanmar is to successfully contain the economic destruction of COVID-19’s second wave.” Since that September survey, the plight of the urban and rural poor has undoubtedly worsened, fueling sharp social tensions.