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India's richest 1% get richer by 39% in 2018

davos - Bottom-half of the population saw a 3 per cent increase in wealth

Indian billionaires saw their fortunes swell by Rs22 billion a day last year, with the top 1 per cent of the country's richest getting richer by 39 per cent as against a mere 3 per cent increase in wealth for the bottom-half of the population, an Oxfam study said on Monday.

Globally, billionaires' fortunes rose by 12 per cent or $2.5 billion a day in 2018, whereas the poorest half of the world's population saw their wealth decline by 11 per cent, the international rights group said in its annual study released before the start of the five-day World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in this Swiss ski resort town.

Oxfam further said that 136 million Indians, who make up the poorest 10 per cent of the country, continued to remain in debt since 2004.

Asking the political and business leaders who have gathered in Davos for the annual jamboree of the rich and powerful of the world to take urgent steps to tackle the growing rich-poor divide, Oxfam said this increasing inequality is undermining the fight against poverty, damaging economies and fuelling public anger across the globe.

Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima, one of the key participants at the WEF summit, said it is "morally outrageous" that a few wealthy individuals are amassing a growing share of India's wealth, while the poor are struggling to eat their next meal or pay for their child's medicines. - PTI