Women make bamboo baskets in a poverty-stricken district of the Central highland’s Dak Lak Province.

The current poverty benchmark should be doubled in 2011, the Ministry of Labors, War Invalids and Social Affairs proposed at a meeting in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The current figures are VND200,000 ($11) and VND260,000 ($14) respectively.

The ministry said the new threshold should be submitted to the government this year or the next, while the current one should remain in force until the end of 2010.

This is one of two plans to adjust poverty line for the 2011-2015 period. The other is to adjust the threshold this year and apply it in 2010.

About 13 percent of households nationwide fall below the poverty line at present. This will rise to around 20 percent under the second plan, meaning more people will benefit from policies targeting the poor, the ministry said.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung in August asked the ministry to instruct local authorities to survey the earnings of people nationwide in order to suggest a suitable poverty benchmark that takes into account international standards and domestic alleviation policies.

Source: SGGP