Update: Poverty in Argentina

Since I did an article so recently on poverty in Argentina, I wanted to point out that a new article by United Press International indicates that there are now 15 million Argentines below the poverty line (making less than $772 pesos ($226 USD) per month. Another 6 million Argentines are making less than $354 pesos ($122 USD) per month. With the increase in inflation recently, the price of the goods in the Canasta Básica Total (CBT) or "Total Basic Basket" now cost more, pushing the poverty line higher and pulling people who were just at the edges of the old poverty line below it.

In a country with a population of just 40 million, this means that now, about 38% of the population is below the poverty line. This is quite a different figure from what is indicated in the CIA World Factbook, which lists 51.7% of the population below the poverty line as of May 2003. I find it hard to believe that the economy has turned around so quickly since May 2003 that almost 14% of the population was pulled out of poverty. I'm assuming the CIA must be using some other definition of poverty besides the the CBT.