Cambodia cuts 2021 State budget due to COVID-19
Phnom Penh (VNA) – The Cambodian Government on June
16 announced a plan to reduce the 2021 State budget to 4 billion USD due to the
impacts of COVID-19.
The figure
accounts for about a 50 percent drop from this year’s State budget,
including a 11.3 percent decrease for social affairs and 6.4 percent for
general administration.
Last year, the Cambodian National Assembly approved the government’s
plan to spend 8.2 billion USD in 2020, a 22 percent increase compared with 2019.
The Khmer Times
the same day quoted Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s directive as saying that
Cambodia’s economic growth in 2020 is predicted to be negative 1.9 percent.
The Fresh News
also said the Cambodian Government earmarked 1 billion USD for the fight
against the pandemic and economic recovery.
PM Hun Sen also said with optimism that the
Cambodian economy could grow by 3.5 percent next year thanks to global economic
recovery and external demand./.