In its annual report on global inequality, Oxfam reports that the world\u2019s 10 wealthiest people, all of them men, saw their collective fortunes soar by half a trillion dollars since the Covid<\/a> pandemic began, even though the world economy is smaller.<\/p>\n Based on data from Forbes\u2019 2020 Billionaire List<\/a>, the list includes France\u2019s wealthiest person, LVMH president Bernard Arnault, along with Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Elon Musk of Tesla, investor Warren Buffet, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and others.<\/p>\n Their combined gains would be enough to pay to vaccinate every person in the world and ensure no one is pushed into poverty, Oxfam says in its report\u00a0\u201cThe Inequality Virus\u201d<\/a>, published to coincide with the annual World Economic Forum<\/a> summit of leaders of businesses, governments and states.<\/p>\n Unless governments change their economic policies, the Covid pandemic will lead to the largest increase in inequality the world has ever seen, with world poverty levels on track to be higher in 2030 than they were in 2020, the group warns.<\/p>\n \u201cRigged economies are funnelling wealth to a rich elite who are riding out the pandemic in luxury, while those on the frontline of the pandemic \u2013 shop assistants, healthcare workers and market vendors \u2013 are struggling to pay the bills,\u201d Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International,\u00a0said in a statement<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The pandemic has seen economic disruption<\/a> that has hit the poor the hardest, with women and precarious workers facing the worst of job losses. The World Bank has warned more than 100 million people may be pushed into extreme poverty.<\/p>\n The group emphasised the recovery and relief packages that governments set up during the pandemic played to the benefit of billionaires more than to those who most needed aid.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 1,000 richest people on the planet recouped their Covid-19 losses within just nine months, but it could take more than a decade for the world\u2019s poorest to recover,\u201d the group said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n France was no exception, with the country\u2019s approximately 40 billionaires<\/a> becoming richer as data suggested millions of their compatriots fell into poverty since the country took its first restrictive measures against the disease<\/a> caused by the new coronavirus in March of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFrench billionaires gained almost 175 billion euros, an amount twice as large as France\u2019s budget for public hospitals,\u201d Quentin Parrinello, spokesperson for Oxfam France, told RFI.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the third largest gain after the United States and China, even as we face facing the most serious economic crisis in a hundred years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nFrance no exception\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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RFI \u2014 France is third only to the United States and China in terms of how the wealth of billionaires has grown throughout the Covid pandemic, anti-poverty campaigner Oxfam said Monday as it warned of spiralling global inequality if governments did not change their economic policies.<\/p>\n