RAWALPINDI, Feb 13: New estimates for the year released by the World Bank on Friday suggest that lower economic growth rates will push 46 million more people to $1.25 a day than was expected prior to the spreading global economic crisis.

Another 53 million people will stay trapped on less than $2 a day in addition to the 130 to 155 million pushed into poverty in 2008 because of soaring food and fuel prices.

The World Bank said almost 40 per cent of 107 developing countries were highly exposed to the poverty effects of the crisis, less than 10 per cent faced little risk and the remainder were moderately exposed.Pakistan has been placed among the 43 countries most exposed to poverty risks. Fourteen countries have been placed in the category of high poverty.

In a policy note, entitled ‘The global economic crisis: assessing vulnerability with a poverty lens,’ issued in the run up to the ‘Group of Seven’ finance ministers meeting on Saturday, the World Bank said the crisis was trapping up to 53 million more people in poverty in developing countries and, with child mortality rates set to soar, made very difficult the realisation of internationally agreed targets to overcome poverty.

The forecasts highlighted a threat to achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which set targets for 2015 to overcome poverty.

The research showed that the sharply lower economic growth rates would significantly retard progress in reducing infant mortality. Preliminary estimates for 2009 to 2015 forecast that an average 200,000 to 400,000 more children a year, a total of 1.4 to 2.8 million, might die if the crisis persisted.

The note said it was critical for exposed countries to finance job creation, delivery of essential services and infrastructure and safety net programmes for the vulnerable.

Yet, three-quarters of those countries could not raise funds domestically or internationally to finance programmes to curb the effects of the downturn. One-quarter of them also lacked the institutional capacity to expand spending to protect vulnerable groups.

The note called for financial support in the form of grants and low- or zero-interest loans for such countries.