As much as 90 million people will be trapped in extreme poverty this year as an effect of the global economic crisis, the World Bank announced Friday.

In a report entitled "Global Monitoring Report 2009: A Development Emergency," the multilateral lender said an additional 55 to 90 million is expected to experience extreme poverty in 2009.

On the other hand, the World Bank is projecting the number of chronically hungry people to climb to over 1 billion this year, reversing gains in fighting malnutrition and making the need to invest in agriculture especially urgent.

The World Bank said the global crisis is imperiling the attainment of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDG), creating an emergency for development. According to the World Bank, most of the eight globally agreed goals are unlikely to be met, which include those related to hunger, child and maternal mortality, education, and progress in combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other major diseases.

Other MDGs include gender equality, environmental sustainability, and global partnership.

Citing new estimates, the multilateral lender added that more than half of all developing countries could experience a rise in the number of extreme poor in 2009. The World Bank said this proportion is likely to be still higher among low-income countries and nations in Sub-Saharan Africa at two-thirds and three-quarters, respectively.