The Asian Development Bank says some two million people could fall into poverty as a result of the devastating tsunami that killed nearly 160,000 people around the Indian Ocean.
A report released by the regional bank today (Thursday) said about one million people could become impoverished in Indonesia alone, most in the northern province of Aceh where more than 100-thousand died.
The bank says the number of poor in India could rise by some 645-thousand, and by 250-thousand in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, the 19 creditor nations of The Paris Club have offered to suspend debt payments for countries hit by last month's tsunami.
The group's chairman (Jean-Pierre Jouyet) said (Wednesday) any country affected by the disaster is eligible for the freeze. However, he said only Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Seychelles have expressed an interest.