The move means those living in rural areas who earn VND350,000 or less a month or those living in urban areas who earn VND450,000 or less will be considered poor.

The existing poverty line is VND200,000 per person a month in the countryside and VND260,000 for those living in urban areas, respectively.

The new standard means that the number of households living in poverty would rise from 13 percent to 20 percent.

The ministry proposed raising the poverty benchmark to reflect changes in the consumer price index. The draft change will be submitted to the Prime Minister in the next few months.