Vietnams poverty rate at the end of 2008 is lower than the 2007 figure of 13.1 percent of the population but higher than the goal of 12 percent set by the government, according to an official report.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Tuesday said the global economic downturn, domestic price turbulence, epidemics and natural disasters were the major reasons the nation had not met its poverty reduction goal.

Vietnam increased expenditure for national poverty reduction programs by 20 percent in 2008.

During the year, the government spent approximately VND20 trillion (US$1.2 billion) on social security and gave more than 40,000 tons of rice to people affected by natural disasters.

According to the ministrys report, more than 1 million poor households across the country received low-interest loans. Hundreds of thousands of poor people were trained in farming techniques and 14 million people benefited from free insurance and healthcare services during the year.

Beside poverty reduction efforts, the ministry has proposed that the government increase the poverty line by 50 percent to keep pace with inflation. If the proposal is approved, the poverty rate will increase to between 16 and 17 percent of the population, or 3.2 million to 3.4 million households.

To narrow the wealth gap between areas, the government has adopted a policy to support 61 districts across the nation where more than 50 percent of the population is defined as poor.

Next year, with the new poverty line, the government aims to reduce the number of poor households by 400,000, pushing the poverty rate to below 15 percent.

Source: VNA