The Asian Development Bank on Tuesday revised Cambodia’s expected economic contraction this year from 5.5 percent to 4 percent, noting growth in non-garment exports thanks in part to demand for work-from-home electronics.
The government must ensure the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement has the nation’s and the people’s interests at heart, and both improves the country’s economic competitiveness and garners Chinese investment that produces local jobs.
During the rainy season, rising waters in the rice fields surrounding Takeo’s Koh Andet district provide an ample supply of rodents. As the global economic downturn leaves many jobless, some are turning to catching and exporting rats to make ends meet.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has touted Cambodia’s “strong” agricultural sector as a solution to economic pressures during the global pandemic, though some observers doubt agriculture could make up for garment sector losses due to Covid-19 and the pending withdrawal of some E.U. trade perks.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday said the government would distribute about $25 million per month to assist families registered in the IDPoor social benefits system as the country struggles through the pandemic-driven economic downturn.
Cambodia could see negative growth this year — for the first time since 1994 — due to the pandemic-spurred economic crisis, the World Bank projected on Friday, estimating even more severe hits to the nation’s key industries than it did two months ago.
After the National Bank suggested lenders cut struggling borrowers a break, some financial institutions say they are relieving customers affected by Covid-19 disruptions on a case-by-case basis. But civil society groups say the measures won’t offer debt relief quickly enough.
Cambodia’s service sector will be hit hard by the global economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic, contracting 1.7 percent for the year, the Asian Development Bank said in its latest forecast.
The government is preparing to set aside up to $2 billion in reserves to respond to the economic fallout of the Covid-19 global outbreak, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday said China was transporting raw textile materials to Cambodia to relieve some garment factories of shortages caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, which a union leader called a welcome but short-term fix.
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