₹152) per day fall under extreme poverty. "The region's economic growth this year is expected to reduce extreme poverty -- defined as living off less than USD 1.90 a day -- to a level that would have been achieved in 2020 had the pandemic not happened," according to Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2022 released on Wednesday.
Citing data simulations, ADB said those with lower pre-pandemic levels of social mobility, the ability to escape poverty, may witness "longer-lasting setbacks".
COVID-19 has interrupted a long trend of poverty reduction, it said, adding that despite the economies seeming to be recovering the progress remains uneven.
The report also suggested that the pandemic might have worsened the form of poverty, and might have inflicted food insecurity and inadequate access to health services and education. "The poor and the vulnerable have been hit hardest by COVID-19, and while economies are recovering, many people may find that getting out of poverty is even more difficult than before," ADB Chief Economist Albert Park stated.