A construction worker casts a fishing net onto a flooded land following recent rain to catch fish on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Photo: AP) Phnom Penh (VNA) - Cambodia haslaunched a programme to give cash handouts to the country’s poorest householdsto alleviate the financial burden caused by the coronavirus.
At a ceremony to announce the programmeon June 24, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the government will spend 25million USD a month to provide money to 560,000 households identified by anexisting programme as the poorest.
He said the cash transfers will be carried out in June and July, and will beextended or expanded in the following months according to economic conditions.
The 560,000households account for about 2.3 million Cambodians, or about 14 percent of the almost 17 million population.
The programme will provide 20 USD torural families and 30 USD to urban families because living expenses are higherin cities, Hun Sen said.
The transfers will be supplemented by smaller payments for each family member,and an additional 10 USD for live-in parents over the age of 60 and familymembers who have HIV infections.
According to the PM, the Cambodian government has spent 125 millionUSD supporting local people over the past five months and will allocate anadditional 100 million USD for infrastructure development and job generation inrural areas./.
VNA
