A tax of just 1.5 per cent on the rising number of billionaires since the 2008 financial crisis could have saved the lives of 23 million poor people, says a new report on growing inequalities in the world.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the number of billionaires has more than doubled, swelling to 1,645 people, said the report, ‘Even it Up: Time to End Extreme Inequality’, released by non-profit Oxfam here on Friday.

It said extreme wealth was not restricted to rich countries. The world’s richest man is telecom tycoon Carlos Slim of Mexico. “Today there are 16 billionaires in Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside 358 million people living in extreme poverty,” it added.

In India, the number of billionaires rose from two in the 1990s to 65 in 2014, and the net worth of these super rich people is enough to eliminate absolute poverty in the country, twice over, said Nisha Agrawal, CEO, Oxfam India

She said over half of the foreign direct investment into India was being channelled through tax havens, and the Government spends almost twice as much on its military as on health. Money that can be invested to tackle inequality is diverted by tax breaks and public-private partnerships, the reports said, adding “Global corporations and the wealthiest people must pay their fair share to Governments, so that countries can tackle inequality and build fairer societies.”

Noting that income from work determined most people’s economic status, the report said “Since 1990, income from labour has made up a declining share in GDP across low, middle and high-income countries alike. Around the world, ordinary workers are taking home and ever-dwindling slice of the pie, while those at the top take more and more.”

Oxfam research found evidence of poverty wages and job insecurity in middle-income countries, such as India, Kenya and Vietnam, while countries, such as Brazil, had bucked the trend. One reason for growing inequalities is the “capture of power and politics by the elite”. “Money buys political clout, which the richest and the most powerful use” to curry government favours, such as tax exemptions, sweetheart contracts, land concessions and subsidies, it said, citing the example of Slim, who made his billions by securing exclusive rights over Mexico’s telecom sector when it was privatised in the 1990s.

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