Paraguay's acting president launches plan to reduce poverty

MONTEVIDEO, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Paraguay's Acting President Federico Franco signed a decree Thursday to launch an action plan to reduce poverty.

To realize the goals set in the plan, the government needs a budget of 2.473 billion U.S. dollars, Franco told a gathering of officials, businessmen and social activists in the Mburuvicha Roga presidential residence.

He called on the private sector to work together with the public sector to reduce extreme poverty, saying that it is unlikely for neither side to achieve the desired improvements alone.

He also urged local governments to prioritize efforts to reduce poverty so that those with no means to improve their living conditions could still have hope.

Franco also launched a mechanism for the identification of the beneficiaries of social programs, in a bid to avoid fraudulent practices.

According to figures from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, about 49 percent of Paraguay's population lived under poverty line in 2011.

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