Mario Bergara recalled that poverty in Uruguay moved from 8.8 to 11.6% of its population, equivalent to 100,000 more citizens below poverty line in 2020, severely affecting children and teenagers.

According to the National Statistics Institute (NSI), 81 out of every thousand households are in such a situation and 0.4% of the entire population is below the poverty line.

Bergara, former president of Central Bank, also said that there was a shortage of an emergency income for those families that really need it the most ‘to avoid loss of many jobs and closure of so many stores and services.’ ‘Hopefully confirmation of these negative outcomes will induce the government to react with more assistance to the families most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and also to micro- and small-sized companies that are closing every day,’ he said.

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