Asia-Pacific

Brazil aims to cut extreme poor by 16.2m by 2014

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-03 11:08

BRASILIA - Brazil aims at lifting 16.2 million more people out of extreme poverty by 2014 through a new project launched by President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday.

Dubbed as "Brazil Without Poverty", the program tends to benefit 8.5 percent of the population, with an annual budget of 20 billion reais ($12.6 billion) funded by the Federal Treasury.

"The plan has the effect of screaming to us all that poverty still exists in Brazil. As leaders, we can't forget them for a single minute," said Rousseff, who describes poverty reduction as "a primary government  responsibility".

By Brazilian standards, extreme poverty means monthly earning of 70 reais ($44) per capita or less. In recent years, this South American country has lifted 28 million people from poverty, and 36 million have entered the middle class.