Majilis deputy Erlan Sairov informs that the poverty line in Kazakhstan is one of the lowest in the world and is at the level of Nigeria, Angola, Venezuela and Gabon, according to the national portal Adyrna.
The Majilisman sent a parliamentary inquiry to Deputy Prime Minister Yeraly Tugzhanov. He noted that one of the main social problems of Kazakhstan was the poverty of the majority of the population.
"The World Bank has two limits on poverty in the world: $ 3.2 per person per day for low-income countries, $ 5.5 per day for high-income countries. The minimum subsistence level in Kazakhstan is $ 2.8, and in Russia it is $ 6 per day." , - said Sairov.
According to him, in 2021 the number of people with incomes below the subsistence level was officially 998 thousand people. According to unofficial experts, this figure is 1.5 million or more.
"Despite the doubling of GDP, Kazakhstan has not raised the poverty line for decades. Today, Kazakhstan has one of the lowest living standards in the world and is at the level of Nigeria, Angola, Venezuela and Gabon. In Europe, poverty is 60% of the average income. ", - he said.
At the same time, since the beginning of the pandemic, the effectiveness of social payments has decreased due to rising inflation, which affects the finances of low-income households, he said.
"For example, in Kazakhstan, the poorest 40 percent of the population spends 59 percent of their budget on food. Sometimes this figure is even higher. There are two indicators of low social status in the country - the subsistence level and the poverty line. The poverty line, the minimum. 70% of the subsistence level, ie 36 thousands tenge.
This is a "trick" of the ancient governments to pay less to the people. That is, if you want to get social assistance, you have to be "poor"! As a result of this tautology, the demand for social assistance will increase in 2020 due to the steady rise in prices, and the number of people covered by targeted social assistance will decrease, although the number of people in need will increase. This factor, in turn, has completely destabilized the social situation of needy people, "Sairov said.
The deputy believes that this factor has completely destabilized the social situation of low-income citizens.
"The Nur-Otan faction believes that the government should take the following measures to fight poverty.
Raising the poverty line in Kazakhstan in accordance with the level of GDP in the country, international standards. Introduce a new definition of poverty, consistent with the view of poverty in society.
Raising the subsistence level by combining the subsistence level and the poverty line.
Exemption from personal income tax for citizens earning two minimum wages.
Solve the problem of annual indexation of the minimum wage.
"Improving the insurance system by increasing the amount of unemployment insurance for the lowest paid citizens," he said.
National portal "Adyrna"
