KUALA LUMPUR: The World Bank recently estimated that up to 49 million people could be pushed into poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But for many Malaysians, that was already a very real risk even before the world turned upside down.
A 2018 survey by the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) had found that 53% of Malaysians are ill-prepared for financial setbacks, and are just one personal disaster away from being plunged into a cycle of poverty.
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