Abstract:"The most important goal for the developmental effort has become poverty reduction, which can be achieved by economic growth and/or by the distribution of income. Issues related to the benefits of growth accrued to the poor have also been a priority of development policy in the 1990s. An emerging consensus is that growth alone is a rather blunt tool for poverty reduction. In addition to the emphasis on poverty reduction, policies of redistribution of income and assets have become increasingly important. A policy agenda that addresses both distributional concerns and poverty reduction could lead to the enhancement of both economic growth and equity. Indeed, the relation among growth, inequality and poverty is complex and interdependent one." (...)