ISLAMABAD: With the target to monitor poverty and to get ready report by April 2016, the World Bank has launched a new Commission on Global Poverty.
Sir Anthony Atkinson will lead the new commission, which consists of 24 leading international economists. Sir Anthony Atkinson is a Centennial Professor at London School of Economics, and a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford University.
Announcing the new advisory body, World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu said that he expects the Commission to also provide advice on how to adjust the measurement of extreme poverty as and when new Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) and other price and exchange rate data become available.
PPP calculations allow economists to compare different global exchange rates to assess household consumption and real income in US dollars, since nominal exchange rates do not accurately capture differences in costs of living across countries.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Development Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have formally launched a $500 million grant facility, to be known as “The Lives and Livelihoods Fund”, to address poverty and diseases in IDB member countries which include Pakistan.
