KUALA LUMPUR: The mechanism for the measurement of poverty in Malaysia is in line with international standards that have improved over time, the Dewan Rakyat heard today.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the official reports for poverty cases in the country are also carried out based on a survey method, known as the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES), which is conducted every two years.
"The survey uses a method that examines the minimum expenditure required to meet the caloric needs and necessities (of a household).
"The difference between poverty and the hardcore poverty line is also determined by the expenditure needed to purchase the necessary food for a household.
"If additional expenses such as clothing and other necessities are included, this already goes into poverty (line) and this is the standard measurement of poverty used worldwide," he said during the minister's question time in Dewan Rakyat, today.
Rafizi said this in response to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) who enquired about the mechanism of the measurement of poverty in Malaysia, particularly in Sabah.
Bung also questioned the government's way of measuring poverty in Malaysia, stating that hardcore poverty in Sabah which stood at 6,937 out of 18,445 households nationwide in 2022 was illogical as the state alone had a 3.9 million average population.
Rafizi, however, acknowledged that the cases of hardcore poverty in Sabah were solely based on HIES, where the method is globally used in determining poverty rates.
Following this, he added that there was a need for the establishment of a granular database in the efforts to eradicate poverty.
"It (the database) cannot be at the macro level, it must measure each household and this is the challenge that we face in Sabah (to eradicate poverty).
"However, efforts are ongoing such as the establishment of the Central Database Hub (Padu) and I acknowledge the Sabah government's request for the ministry to allocate funds to register households.
"This is because there will be discrepancies between official reports and our efforts to eradicate poverty if we miss the data (of the households)."
He also said despite being subjected to international reporting standards provided by international bodies such as the United Nations (UN) and UN International Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef) on poverty, the government's scheme and programmes to eradicate poverty could be designed and improved with new mechanisms.
"Therefore, the ministry is developing a method that does not merely follow the B40, M40 and T20 categories or just extreme or absolute poverty.
"However, the mechanism is based on the concept of disposable income to live a decent life where we determine for each area, by district, what the expenditure is to achieve a decent life.
"We look at the net household income expenditure and after deductions, this will be the reference line in Padu to qualify for government assistance and cash transfers."