Malaysia is classified as an upper middle income country by the World Bank. This is an important factor in the approach taken to poverty alleviation through microfinance in Malaysia, an approach deriving from the New Economic Policy (NEP) which operated from 1971 to 1990. The NEP was directed to reducing poverty and income disparities between ethnic groups, and particularly to improving the position of the Bumiputera. These are the indigenous peoples of Malaysia, who were seen as economically disadvantaged by comparison with other ethnic groups, particularly the Chinese.