April 05, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 16, 1428

TOKYO: Poverty in South Asia, the region with the world's largest concentration of poor people, could fall dramatically within a generation if the current pace of economic growth continues, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

The region's economies have grown strongly in recent years, led by India, which has posted growth rates of up to 9 per cent in the last year, compared with 5 or 6 per cent on average in the last 10 to 15 years, said John A. Roome, the bank's operations director for South Asia.

South Asia has been also successful in significantly reducing the number of poor people, Roome said. About 150 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the last 10 to 15 years, he said at a press conference.

“These positive trends give us a lot of optimism,” Roome said. “If certain key challenges can be addressed, poverty can be significantly reduced, if not eliminated, within a generation.”

The challenges include sustaining and accelerating the rates of growth in the region, which covers Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.—AP