The
unwritten law that the poverty is reduced if the economy grows does not seem to
hold true in Mongolia. Why is this so? A  World Bank 
report on the puzzle was yesterday released by the Bank’s economists
Andrew D Meson and Tran B Nguen at a ceremony attended by representatives of
the National Development and Innovation Committee, the National Statistics Office,
the President’s advisers, some Ambassadors and media.

The report says poor households were 61.1% of the nation’s total in 2002-2003
and 35.2% in 2007-2008. The number of people under the poverty level  fell from 69.7% to 46.6% in the period
covered. In Ulaanbaatar it  dropped from
54.1% to 26.9%.

What is the situation in 2010? Poverty has increased with the economic downturn
in the world and following the dzud disaster last year. Loss of livelihood has
led to loss of  household income, and the
low-income households have been hit most. Economic growth has led to more
disparity of income and inequitable distribution of wealth.

The World
Bank methodology to measure poverty is not the same as used by the NSC  so some of their figures do not agree. The
Deputy Chief of the NSC, L.Erdenesuren, explained these differences. The number
of livestock has increased and so has the amount saved by citizens. Several
improvements have taken place in the education and health sectors and it is
also significant that the use of solar energy devices and mobile phones has
risen much.