Poverty and Growth Blog |

Poverty and Growth Blog |: "To conclude, we note that:

(i) growth is the fundamental factor for poverty reduction,

(ii) growth accompanied by progressive distributional change is, however, better for poverty reduction than growth alone; and

(iii) high initial inequality reduces the impact of growth on poverty reduction.

The existing literature suggests that both growth and inequality are important for pro-poor growth and that their relative importance depends on country conditions, most notably the initial level of income and inequality. In order for growth to be pro-poor, it will have to disproportionately benefit the poorer levels of any given society. In low-income countries, the need to accelerate pro-poor growth for poverty reduction has emerged as critical, particularly in the context of poverty reduction strategies and the efforts to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). "