Cambodia has signed more than $11 billion in concessional loans as of the end of 2018 – 41 percent coming from China – the Finance Ministry reported Tuesday.
The country has withdrawn about $7.3 billion of the grants so far to spend primarily on infrastructure projects, and currently has a total outstanding debt of $7.0 billion, the Cambodia Public Debt Statistical Bulletin said.
Last year, Cambodia signed agreements for $1.8 billion in new loans, increasing the total by 19 percent to $11.4 billion. It disbursed $646 million and made about $266 million in repayments, $182 million of it for principal and $84 million for interest and other fees.
Cambodia’s biggest creditors are China, with agreements for $4.6 billion in loans; the Asian Development Bank with $2.6 billion; Japan with $1.3 billion; and the World Bank with $1.1 billion. The loans, signed over 25 years since 1993, have an average interest rate of 1.3 percent and a 27-year term.
