Malaysia dismisses UN rep's claim of high poverty rate

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has dismissed as baseless claims made by a United Nations representative that the country had under-counted its rate of poverty.

Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said Malaysia would stand by its official figure of 0.4%, as the rate was derived from internationally accepted standards based on the second edition (2011) of the Canberra Group Handbook on household income statistics published by the United Nations.