Asia | Stable inequality over the past two decades would have lifted 240 million people more out of poverty

Developing Asia’s rapid growth in recent years has given rise to a widening rich-poor divide that threatens to undermine the region’s growth and stability, but governments can address the problem via shifts in spending priorities, the Asian Development Bank said.

The region must spend more on education and health, create quality jobs and invest in infrastructure to reduce imbalances between developed and lagging rural areas so as to prevent social problems that can lead to inefficient populist policies, the Manila-based ADB said on Wednesday.

In its Asian Development Outlook 2012 report, the bank said if inequality in the region had remained stable over the past two decades, growth over the years would have lifted 240 million people more out of poverty, the equivalent of 6.5 percent of developing Asia’s population in 2010…

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via Rising income inequality a threat to Asia’s growth – Business News – IBNLive.