Poverty reduction lags far behind GDP gains

The Philippines continues to face the challenge of reducing poverty in the country despite the economy’s robust growth so far, according to the government-initiated and United Nations-funded Fifth Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Released on Wednesday by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Report concluded some progress has been made in reducing extreme poverty in the country, but not fast enough to achieve the targeted rate of reduction before the MDG deadline next year.