COVID, Military Coup Pushing Half of Myanmar Into Poverty, UN Reports

The political fallout from the military coup in Myanmar and the coronavirus pandemic threaten to push half of the country's population into poverty by next year, the United Nations warned Friday. 

The U.N. Development Program said in a report that up to 25 million people could be forced into poverty by early 2022 as businesses remain closed during clashes between the junta and anti-government protesters.  "COVID-19 and the ongoing political crisis are compounding shocks which are pushing the most vulnerable back and more deeply into poverty," U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Kanni Wignaraja told Reuters.  In an interview with Associated Press, Wignaraja said, "The hardest hit will be poor urban populations and the worst affected will be female heads of households."